Digimon Tamers Zero Two
by MasterCaedus
Summary: Tasuke, or Taj, was raised by his 'Uncle' Henry Wong, ever since his parents left when he was very young. In that time, Taj has come to hate his parents and anything related to them. Especially Digimon, the fictional creatures his parents had loved when they were around. But when he gets a real Digimon, Taj must fight Digi-agents of other countries for a chance to find his parents.
1. Pilot Part 1

_**Episode 1: Pilot 1/2**_

I had had the same weird nightmare on and off for years; about as long as I can remember, really. Some of the specific details of the characters in it have changed as my own imagination has aged, but it was always recognizable for what it was. I'm four again, my parents hugging me tight. I can't see their faces – those had vanished maybe nine years ago – but I know it's them. I can just tell because, well, because this hug is my entire world. I could almost smell the bread and pencil lead coming off of my father's shoulders, or the spice of my mother's perfume.

Then the more... absurd parts of the dream start to invade. At first it's almost funny. There's a red velociraptor just eating bread and rolling around like a doofus, a yellow kitsune slipping in and out of the shadows, some weird bunny dog sitting on my head. Those are the ones that are always there. The others are on a cycle. This time there's a rusty robot standing guard, and an angry robot t-rex. Hey, I said my imagination had aged, not vanished.

Anyways, for a little while, that's about all the dream was. These made up creatures playing around on the empty white expanse past our patio, making four year old me laugh excitedly. It was a dream that I never wanted to end because, after 12 years of this, I always knew it would. Around the time that the velociraptor ran out of bread, the air would begin to crackle with electrically charged mist. My father and mother, at that point, would end the hug. My tiny arms always reach out for them, begging to be held as they ruffle my hair and walk away into the mist without a word. The animals plod along close behind until, eventually, they all vanish and I'm left alone. A four year old, crying for his mommy and daddy on a patio.

It's around that time that I usually wake up with those tears on my face.

I growled and pushed myself up, wiping the water streaming from my crimson eyes. Another stupid thing that happened every time I had that dream. I pulled one knee up and rested my elbow on it before turning to check my phone on the table. My fingers brushed it just as the alarm went crazy. I slammed the screen to dismiss the annoying ring. Of course I would wake up with seconds of sleep to spare. I fell back down onto my bed and covered my eyes, hoping I could go back to sleep instead of going to school. But, unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen. I groaned and threw the sheets off so I could go take a shower.

I tried to shake off the dream the entire time, forcing myself to think about anything else. Music, tv, video games, engineering. Anything that wouldn't remind me of parents. So no art, no bread.

And absolutely none of that stupid card game my parents liked to play with me.

I walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later, and was nearly tackled by a tiny furball slamming into my chest. I stumbled and grabbed the tiny dog. "Momentai, do I need that greeting _every_ morning?" I asked the tiny white terrier. It just yipped and licked my face in reply, ruining my attempt to remain sour. I chuckled and wrapped the dog up in my arms before scratching him behind the ears. "Ah, I guess it's okay." Momentai barked again and leaned into my hand.

"Tasuke!"

"I'm coming!" I shouted back before I started to plop down the stairs. I stopped outside the kitchen and put Momentai on the floor. "Hey, Henry."

The older man, who I called my Uncle, even if he was really just a family friend, was in the kitchen. He turned towards me, lifting the pan from the stove. His serious face, made all the more serious by his steel colored eyes, tanned skin, professional haircut, black-blue hair, and rectangular glasses, softened slightly as a tiny smile appeared. He put the pan down and shut off the stove before grabbing a couple plates. "Scrambled today!"

Uncle Henry was a good guy. A great one. He'd taken me in after my parents... left me. Been more family than they had, that's for damn sure. He taught me, helped me, raised me. Then when I was six he brought me to America with him, and he somehow managed to get us both citizenship. It was a comfortable life. A nice one. It was just us, Momentai, and the occasional visits to or from Henry's family from around the country. A lot from those that lived nearby.

"Scrambled? Again?" I grumbled, plopping down at the bar. "Is it a day that ends in 'Y?'"

He shrugged and walked over to sit beside me, placing a plate in front of both of us. His black suit with the same mint green tie he always wore was comforting every time I saw it. "No changes in the outfit today?" I asked with a smirk. "First the eggs, then the suit? What's next?"

He poked my shoulder. "You're calling me predictable? When was the last time you wore anything that wasn't a jacket," he joked before taking a bite of his eggs. "It's not cold yet, you know."

"Maybe not now, but this afternoon? September in Colorado can be pretty cold, Henry," I retorted as I brushed off the shoulder of my black jacket with its red sleeves. I zipped it mostly shut over my blue shirt. "Or did you forget the time you came home more blue than your hair?"

"Could you at least let me buy you some jeans that aren't black?" he requested, motioning at me with his fork. "September can get pretty hot, too."

"... I have gray, too," I muttered defensively, staring down at my red slip ons.

"Fair, I suppose," he said before ruffling my hair and frowning. "We need to schedule another, don't we?"

I shoved his hand away. Ever since I had come to live with Henry, I'd hated my hair. He'd always been supportive, letting me dye it black-blue and grow it out so it dangled past my ears on the side. He'd raised me, after all, so I wanted some kind of connection to him. He was supportive to the point where he'd even keep me on track sometimes."Momentai. It hasn't even been a month," I replied dismissively.

He grumbled at me under his breath. Something about... 'just like him.' "You know," he said after a couple minutes, "you're going to be late if you don't get going."

I stuffed the last bite of egg into my mouth then glanced at my annoyingly large phone, a holdover from when everyone thought phablets would be a thing. "Gradp!" I swallowed and hugged Henry before sprinting out the door and jumping in my Bronco to drive away.

"Taj!" I parked beside the annoying voice, who was sitting in the passenger seat of her own bright purple jeep. She leaned out of the window and shook her head. "Are you _trying_ to be late?"

"Momentai, May. You're out here, which means you've already got everything at your desk. I have to have at _least_ five minutes," I said as I jumped out of my truck and shouldered my backpack. She hopped out and the horn of her truck echoed among the other students driving up. "Plenty of time."

Mayumi Anderson, my best friend. What to say about May? May's mom Jaarin was Henry's older sister by a couple years. May herself was... smart and upbeat, taking after most of her family. And, like most of her family, an over achiever to an insane level when it came to computers. She wore purple, all the time. In the colder months it was the puffy jacket she had on now, where the torso was white and the sleeves were purple. It had a small, purple, chibi dog pin on the left chest sticking its tongue out, the same one on the back of her white phone, a cool in development thing she got because her dad works for one of those companies. The buns she had done her dark hair in were even held up by purple hairbands. "I'm out here because I've already put all my crap in class," she pointed out. "Mr. Keane is going to kill you if you're late again."

"But you can play on your phone in class? Where's the justice?" I asked as we entered the building and made our way to my locker. I held the handle and kicked the bottom of the locker, causing it to fly open. I began to shove books and my computer into my class bag.

"Please, I'm only taking that course because they don't offer anything harder in the Comp Sci department," she said, waving her hand at me dismissively. "I could probably teach it better than him."

"Then why don't you?" I asked. I shoved my locker shut and began to sprint for class. I _was_ going to be late.

"Teach? Ugh, it's bad enough trying to help you out and you're my friend," she said, sliding ahead and shoving the door open. She pushed in and I dove after her, making it to my seat just as the bell rang.

Mr. Keane glared at us, giving a warning call of "Mr. Joryawa, Ms. Anderson. On time, it appears." His eyes locked on me. " _For once._ "

May ignored him completely and just continued what she'd been saying before. "Besides, I like my phone time." She pulled out her phone and began to play a game while the rest of us were forced to listen to the announcements.

She didn't stop playing it all through first period, even devoting most of her attention to it when we had an in class assignment. She still finished first, way before me. Computer programming was _not_ my forte. "You finally done?" She whispered when I leaned back in my seat fifteen minutes before the end of class. "Took you long enough."

I glared at her. "Sorry I don't instinctively know it, May," I said. I rolled my eyes and gestured up and down at her. "Most people just have to figure it out instead of being programmed with the knowledge."

"At least you've got my Uncle to help you out," she pointed out.

My chin fell as my dream ran through my head again. "Yeah. At least I've got him."

She frowned and put a hand on my shoulder. "You okay?" she asked. When I didn't reply, she sighed. "You had the dream again."

"I'm fine," I hissed. I glanced up at the clock. "Class is almost over. We can talk more later."

"KayKay," May replied, her face still far more somber than it seemed used to. The bell ran and the room became a mess of loud talking and books being shoved into bags. "We can meet up at my house today."

I nodded and gave her a high five. "Sounds great. Catch you then."

X X X

Where Henry and I live has always felt a little too big. There's just the two of us and the dog, so there's just a lot of empty space that never gets filled. It's nice, but it's always felt like there were entire rooms being saved for someone that was never going to show up. Everything outside of my room, Henry's room, and the kitchen just felt like a house. May's house, on the other hand, was cramped, full, and a home. She had three younger siblings running around all the time, playing with toys and tackling each other despite their parents ordering them to play nice. Most of them definitely took after May's dad with his lighter skin and blonde hair, though they had their mom's brown eyes. It seemed the only thing May got from her dad was his purple eyes, probably the source of her 'purple mania.' Best of all about this family, they treated me as much like family as Henry did. I could basically walk in unannounced and they'd have a spot for me at dinner ready in a couple seconds.

"TASUKE!" May's youngest brother, the destructive Dan, shouted as I shut the door behind me. He took off from the pile of boys that were wrestling in one of the larger rooms and left a trail of chairs and tables falling or balancing precariously in his wake. Dan slammed into my legs, almost tackling me into the door. He looked up at me and smiled wide. "Are you gonna play with us today?"

"I'm here too, Twerp. No love for your sister?" May growled from beside me, grabbing his head and lightly shoving him off of my legs. "And we're going to hang out. You can get him when you invite him over."

The kid's face fell. "Meanie." He slammed his heel on his sister's foot and stuck his tongue out as she bounced on her other and cursed at him. "See ya, Tasuke!"

"You got taken down by a five year old," I muttered mockingly. I glanced over at May. "All brains, no brawn."

"At least I have brains, Taj," she retorted. She grabbed my wrist and yanked me up the stairs. "Mom, Dad, Taj and I are heading upstairs to hang out and do some homework."

"KayKay!" Her dad shouted. "Just be ready for dinner!"

"Dory!" May shouted, tossing her backpack up onto her bed before jumping into the chair at her desk. The ugliest dog I have ever seen in my life burst out from under May's bed, an empty four pound tub of Redvines on its head. It was a purple blob with ears, and a jagged white splotch on the front of its face. It leaped through the air and landed in May's lap, staring up at her with almost a human smile on its face. May grinned and pulled the tub off its head before she scratched at its ears. "Who's a good girl! You are! _You_ are!"

"Tell me again where you got a dog _that_ ugly?" I requested of May. The dog took offense at that and turned to me, the smile replaced by a scowl. "You're four legs, a mouth, and ears. You're ugly."

Its eyes narrowed. "Oh, he doesn't know what he's talking about. You're perfect!" May picked up the tiny beast and began to nuzzle its face with her own, and the grin reappeared.

"Okay, can we get started on homework _before_ you get cuddly with your freaky deaky dog?" I asked, sitting down on the bed and starting to pull out my computer. May put the ugly dog down in her lap and glared at me. "We can do the Comp Sci first then math. I'll physics while you do-"

"Oh, no, we are not doing homework, Taj. We are doing _this!_ " She pulled her phone out and displayed the screen. "We're playing phone games."

I looked at the screen and my blood ran cold. "I'm going home," I announced, drawing a flustered sound of surprise from May. The dog in her lap charged past me as I turned for the door, and she stood guard, growling at me. I shifted my backpack to my left shoulder. "Get your dumb dog out of my way."

It growled at me for that one. "May, you know I hate Digimon, so why are you trying to get me to play it?" I growled, turning back to her.

Her eyes flicked to the door, then back to me. "I... Uncle Henry and my mom talk, you know?" she began from her chair. "You don't talk about your parents at all. Ever. Used to be you'd have the dream and cry to me about it, but now I have to force it out of you that you even had it!"

I shrugged. "I don't want to bother you with it."

"No, _you_ don't want to think about your parents, Taj. You used to play Digimon all the time, but once you stopped playing you stopped talking about them at all," May said, jumping up to her feet. She gestured with her phone at me. "Henry doesn't want that. Neither do I. They're your family, you shouldn't forget them."

"They left me!" I hissed, quietly so her parents wouldn't hear. "Why the hell should I remember them?!"

"Because you miss them. And because Henry says they're coming back," May explained. She gestured at me. "You don't think Henry would lie, right?"

I wanted to shout yes, he would lie about this. He wanted to make a kid believe in a miracle, and he'd kept wanting it even years after the kid stopped wanting to. But... no. Henry hated lying, especially to me. If he said something, it was something that he 100% believed in. "...No," I replied after a few moments. I sat down on the bed and her ugly dog stopped growling. I shrugged. "No, I believe he believes it. But I know he's wrong. They were bad people who abandoned their kid, and ever since then they've refused to come back."

"But they made you, so they can't be all bad," she explained quietly. I didn't respond, so she changed tactics. "And you loved Digimon. If they're that bad don't let them ruin it for you. Where's the guy that claimed until he was fourteen that the Shinjuku military weapons leak was real Digimon instead of something else? Or who bought those dopey ass goggles and wore them every day until they broke?"

I glanced over. "You broke them _because_ you said they were dorky."

"They were. But I can miss them, anyways," she retorted. She walked over to the bed and sat beside me. "It doesn't have to be this phone game – but if you play it, use my friend code as the person who suggested you. I'll text it to you, it gets me a ton of in game items – but if not, whatever. Just pick up your cards and bring them over. It'll at least be fun to look at them all again."

"How do you know I didn't get rid of them?" I asked.

May scoffed. "You put almost two thousand bucks into that collection. You have limited edition cards that are illegal in the tournaments, now. You didn't get rid of a collection like that."

I rolled my eyes. "You know me too well."

She nodded. "Better than you know yourself, at least."

"True," I admitted with a laugh. I punched her shoulder lightly and decided to just appease her so we could start our homework. "Ah, okay. If I get bored – _really bored_ -" I added when her face began to brighten. "- then maybe I'll download that stupid app. Or maybe I won't."

The girl furrowed her brow, annoyed with me. "That's better than a no, I guess," May said, a soft smile growing on her face. "But I'm warning you – I've got an almost perfect Alphamon deck. You'll have to be pretty damn good to win."

I shook my head. "Okay, can we work on our homework now, or do I need to go home?" I asked, gesturing at the door.

May scoffed. "All work, huh?" She sighed and shrugged. "Fine, let's get started, you bore."

X X X

A little while after Tasuke left, May was sitting in her purple striped pajamas with her feet on her desk, waiting for the computer nearby to finish downloading the data from her 3D. When a tiny growl sounded out from beside the chair, she glanced over at the tiny purple ball glaring up at her from the foot of the chair. "What? You got something to say?" May asked the fuzzball.

The creature sighed and then, in her squeaky voice, said, "May, why do you hang out with him? He called me an ugly dog!" She bounced up to the human girl's lap. "He's a big jerk!"

"He's just... going through some stuff," May responded sadly, scratching the purple creature behind the ears. "In a couple weeks, he won't have seen his parents in twelve years. That's almost his entire life."

The creature's mouth screwed up into an empathetic pout. "Yeah, well... he still doesn't have to call me ugly! He wouldn't say that if he saw me when I'm big!"

"No! You know you can't Digivolve! Those people that were chasing you would definitely find you if you did!" May snapped, voice desperate, picking her up and staring directly into her orange eyes. She huffed and rolled those eyes. "Dorimon..."

"Ugh, sorry, May. I was just joking," she said with an obvious lack of penitence. She glanced around the room and began to drool like a maniac. "Is there more licorice for me?"

"No! That tub was supposed to last you the week, Dorimon," the girl explained, putting her friend down in her lap again and petting her. "I can't keep blowing all this money on candy, okay? I don't have a part time job to pay for all this, and mom's going to start wondering where it's going!"

"To feed me, of course," the tiny Digimon said. She winked at her human partner. "The most important thing you can do!"

May glared down at her. "Dorimon..."

Dorimon groaned in May's lap again. "Fine. But can we at least go for a run tomorrow? I'm getting stir crazy in here!"

"Yeah, don't want you to chew through the wall again," May mumbled, pushing her foot through the hole underneath her desk.

The Digimon grinned nervously, if not apologetically. "Uh, sorry," she muttered. She turned away from the hole and looked up at her human partner. "But... will you _please_ look for some? I won't eat it in one day again!" Then she started giving puppy dog eyes. May thought she was pretty good at that despite not even remotely being a dog.

So May caved. "KayKay," the girl sighed, even though she knew that her Digimon was giving her a bald faced lie. The girl patted her head. "But it won't be the tub this time."

"W-wha? But _May!_ " she whined, pawing at May's leg to try and reverse the unjust decision.

May turned from her and towards her computer as it began beeping. "Finally, the 3D's data's been downloaded." May picked up the phone and shut her computer. "I'll check this tomorrow. Right now, I'd better make sure Taj actually downloaded it. If I keep bothering him, he might actually do it!" May typed in her friend code and sent the message with the words, _Come on, Taj! Show me your Mon tomorrow!_

May picked up Dorimon and stood up, placing her on the bed, then jumping back in to snuggle the creature tight to her chest. "For now, though... bed!"

Dorimon grumbled, "I hate bed..."

X X X

"Night, Henry!" I shouted out of my door.

"Night, Tasuke!" he called back, still typing away on his work computer.

I shook my head and shut the door. The guy was going to stay up until three again, wasn't he? I sighed and jumped face first into my bed, groaning in comfort as my face hit the pillow. Then my phone beeped and that comfort vanished. I pulled the brick over and turned the screen to me. "May..." I growled and opened the message. Six numbers and the words, _Come on, Taj! Show me your Mon tomorrow!_

I knew, in that moment, that she wasn't going to let this go. Digimon may have been a stupid kids game, but if just downloading the app made her chill out it would be good. Besides, once I got it I could crush this Alphamon deck like it was –

Damn, she had said that just to get me interested in the game, hadn't she?

No, no way. I wasn't going to do it. I was going to stand my ground! I'd just tell her that I decided against it. I'd only given her a maybe, after all. Just a maybe. That didn't mean I had to –

Why was I already downloading it?

I cursed under my breath and let it finish downloading. Dammit, might as well get through this. Finish what you start, and all that. I input my name and May's friend code when it asked who had referred me, then the main screen appeared. Different important Digimon from the various seasons of the show were arranged around the title of the game, exploding out in action poses. "Digimon: Digidestined," I muttered at the screen. I tapped it and the game began.

"Now, a few questions to find out what Digimon partner you'll have!" ran across the screen, slowly changing from the digital script from the show and into English. "Choose a Digimon to form the DNA Basis."

A list of Rookie level Digimon appeared, more than a dozen. I hadn't expected something this deep. It was insane – this was an RPG of sorts, where the Digimon you got would be the main Mon in your deck and the best friend to your avatar as you saved the Digital World. I briefly thought about looking up a guide to get a Royal Knight deck like May's. But it would be way more fun to get better than her because I was meant to. Or beat her with a lame Numemon deck. I was _really_ hoping for the former.

Still, I knew I wanted Agumon in there. It was Tai's Digimon, so that meant it would be the strongest. Besides, I'd always loved the dinosaur looking ones as a kid. Felt cool to look at. But as I was sorting through the list, I found that a different dinosaur caught my eye. "What the hell is a _'Guilmon?_ '" I wondered. The red digimon with its dopey eyes and wide grin, the hazard on its chest. It just felt... right. So I clicked on it.

"Now pick a second Digimon to fill the missing DDNA!" So I went through the list and found another that I thought looked cool. Renamon, a bipedal yellow and white fox with purple arm bands emblazoned with the yin-yang symbol.

"Now for character backstory! Are you searching for your family?" I felt my heart skip a beat. This was oddly personal. The options for creating my character's backstory included this? _And_ it was the first that popped up. This was getting weird, but... I don't know. It was like something compelled me to hit yes, to answer honestly even if it was off putting.

"I see. That's what your wish, Digidestined... Now, would you like to use a randomized Digi-egg item?" Yes and no appeared on the screen. "Warning: Can completely change the Digimon hatched."

Well, at least that was a lot less off putting and personal a question than 'Are you looking for your family?' Still though, completely change the Digimon? Guilmon and Renamon were both cool, and had high stats. Anything that was created from their DDNA would be pretty cool. Hazard Digimon were powerful, and who knows what Renamon's 'yin-yang' deal would do when crossed with that..?

Eh, why not see what it would all do with another unknown thrown in? I clicked the flashing yes. Might be fun.

My camera flashing in my face in my pitch black room was _not_ fun. I yelped in surprise and my phone hit the ground. "Stupid, dumb game! I should have read the download permissions!" I hissed, suddenly wanting to throw the stupid thing at the wall in revenge.

"Everything okay?" Henry shouted, bursting through my door. The lights flicked on and I groaned. Too bright. Again. "Are you hurt?"

I looked over, catching sight of a man with terror painted on his face. "I'm fine. My camera just went off in my face," I said, rubbing at my eyes. "What, did you think a killer broke into my room?"

Henry laughed in embarrassment. "I... no. Just surprised, that's all." He leaned against the door. "What's with you kids always taking selfies?"

"I – no, it was an accident!" I snapped.

Henry shook his head. "Sure." He didn't believe me. "Just try to go to bed instead of looking at yourself, Narcissus."

I groaned. "Just let me sleep, Old Man," I hissed over his chuckling. I tossed a pillow at him and he deflected it to the ground. "Night."

He shook his head. "Night." He slowly shut the door until it was me, alone in my room with the light on.

"Stupid game," I growled when I suddenly remembered what was at fault here. I leaned down and plucked my phone from the ground, hoping the screen hadn't shattered in the random tumble. Thankfully, it seemed fine. I pressed the home button and the screen illuminated, revealing an 8-bit, black Digi-egg with red lines pulsating at the center of the screen. But I was done with this. Taking photos of me randomly? Not on board. I pressed the home button again, intent on deleting this stupid app and ending this poorly conceived decision as soon as I could.

Except my phone wouldn't leave the game.

Okay, annoying, but fixable. I held down the power button to restart the phone and force a quit of the game. Then I could enter the app store and delete it, no problem. Except that I probably held it down for five minutes, growing angrier and angrier that I had downloaded an app that had broken my phone, and all I had to show for it was a red and black Digi-egg

"I'm going to kill May for getting me to put this malware on my phone," I whispered, feeling just... hollow at this turn of events. I didn't even want to toss it at the wall anymore, so instead I dropped my phone on the table next to my bed. I was just hoping my alarm would sound tomorrow at least. "... God, I hate Digimon."

X X X

"Mr. Gethen, I think you should see this."

The man glanced up from his computer and rose to his full height in a single fluid motion. He cut a tall, lithe figure in his burgundy suit and the men working around him were torn between shrinking away from him in fear as he passed or leaning close in awe. His blonde hair was longer than most people in his line of work would have, but with him it almost made him seem more in charge. He stopped near the desk that had summoned him and placed his hands in his pockets. "Agent Zubel, report," Gethen commanded calmly as he arrived.

The agent coughed nervously and gestured at his computer screen. "S-sir, there's a new D-digi-egg hatching in one of our nurseries," he began, growing more and more nervous under the gaze of his boss.

"Then send the Agents there to tag it. You know protocol, Zubel," Gethen growled. "Don't waste my time." He turned to walk away.

"But, Sir!" Zubel said. "This has power readings higher than almost any egg that hatched as a rookie!"

Gethen stopped and slowly turned back. "Higher than the Agumon we scanned in the Japanese nursery?" he wondered.

"Sir, it's easily stronger."

Gethen raised an eyebrow and returned to the table. "Start bringing up the firewalls so it can't escape. I want teams on it the moment it hatches so we can find the partner it's seeking out."

"Understood," Zubel said, turning back to his computer and typing commands. A few seconds later: "The teams are on their way. Scans say it's viral, so I sent Vaccines in for containment."

"Good," Gethen said, leaning forward to read the data coming in on this hatching Digimon. The numbers were nearly Champion level, without any of the augments from its partner. Could this be..? "We need this Digimon, Agent. It could alter the balance of power in Digital Warfare. _Do not_ let it escape."

Agent Zubel nodded, his confidence growing after seeing his superior's positive response to his information. "The hatching process is nearing completion, Sir. In a few moments, this Digimon will be tagged and we can follow it to its Tamer."

"I am quite excited to see what kind of Digimon this will be," Gethen admitted, standing up straight and straightening his tie. It would not do to lose his composure in such an important moment. "I -"

A message popped up on the screen. Zubel's eyes widened and worry tinged his voice. "Sir, it's hatched. It's burning through the anti-Viral walls." Another message popped up. "Sir, it's breaking containment, and the agents aren't close enough to stop it. It – It's going to make it to the real world!"

Gethen's fist clenched at his side. "Implement stronger anti-Viral containment. I do not want this thing escaping!" he commanded before slamming his fist on the table.

Agent Zubel jumped in his chair and began typing rapidly, desperate to stop the Digimon. "Level three containment walls enacted, Sir. It's stopped, Sir," he explained, worry growing more and more distant. Gethen stood up straight, a satisfied smirk spreading across his features. It was only a matter of time until the squads arrived to take this new Digimon into custody. Then – "I... Sir!"

Gethen placed his hand on the back of the chair. "What?" he snapped.

"Sir, it's attacking the nursery. Prepared Digi-eggs and nests are being wiped out!" the agent shouted, drawing the attention of the many other agents in the dark room. They all turned, eyes widening. "Sir, what should I do? At this rate, the Nursery will be gone before the agents can get close!"

Gethen's hand tightened on the desk chair, drawing out an angry squeak from the leather. "Let it go, then send a tagged Digimon after it," he said, thinking fast. "A wild Rookie should at least give us what city it is heading for when it Bio-emerges. From there we can scan for 3D activity." He leaned down until he could whisper in the agent's ear. "I will _not_ have a repeat of the Dorumon incident."

Zubel's face went white and he began typing quickly into his station. "Sir, the tagged Digimon is set to arrive the moment you order the walls down.."

"Good," Gethen growled. "Then do it."

Zubel nodded and entered the program commands. The anti-Viral walls fell, and data began to pop up on the UI. "Sir, the Digimon are set to Bio-emerge. We're locking in on the tagged Wild One."

Gethen pushed Zubel to the side and leaned over the computer, watching as the tagged Digimon did its job. In just a few moments... Well, wasn't that interesting. That address... So close to him? Well, there was no way that could be a coincidence. Not where a Digidestined of his caliber was concerned. "Agent Zubel, book me and you a flight to Colorado. We're going to go meet with the _illustrious_ Henry Wong."

X X X

The Digimon had not been prepared for this. He had expected that the human world and the Digital world would not be all that different. The Digimon didn't have anything to compare it to, after all. Or even all that much knowledge about the Digital world. He had just been born, after all. He knew things from the data used to create it, but everything else...

For one, everything smelled. The Digital world was not not huge on sensory input other than enemy locations and pain. And these overwhelming smells gave him an entirely new feeling it didn't recognize. It was like the inside of his lower torso hurt. Like he was downloading his own data from the inside. It hurt so much! But, not more than the Digimon could handle. He was strong, after all. It was the strongest!

The creature growled when one of those smells hit it. It was warm and... he felt like the human words were spicy and sweet. The Digimon's mouth began to drool like it was a waterfall. It needed some of whatever that smell was. It sprinted through the alleyways and eventually came close to the source of the smell. "Kin nae bonn..." the Digimon growled at the human letters above the... kiosk? The kiosk. It was blue and white, this kiosk, and full of that smell. That delicious smell... It took a slow step out of the darkened entrance to this building. Surely one bite of whatever a Kin nae bonn was would not hurt. His mouth watered and he felt fire beginning to rise in his throat. Just one attack and this entire Kin nae bonn would be –

Then it felt the pull again. It turned away from the Kin nae bonn and sniffed the air, trying hard to ignore the smells nearby in favor of that so far away. The scent of the pull. He forced his mind to forget the Kin nae bonn, a distraction to its mission of power, and sprinted away. His pitch black hide melted into the shadows, leaving barely visible crimson lines and triangles dashing between the large metal things the humans rode around it. Its white chest angled down, hiding the symbol of the Digital Hazard and helping him melt even deeper into the shadows. His claws dug into the the ground as he pushed and began to gain speed. He would not stop until it found the source of the pull, the human that would make him strong. The human that would make Black-Guilmon the strongest Digimon that had ever existed. Or until it found him.

X X X

 _Takato here, and this is so crazy! I can't believe Henry is all grown up. I wonder what happened to me, Rika, and everyone else. Are we still in Japan? Well, for now, I'm really hoping to find out what the deal is with this Gethen guy. He's like an American Yamaki! What is Digital Warfare, and why does nobody think Digimon are real!? Jeez, this is just so confusing..._

 _Well, maybe we'll find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


	2. Pilot Part 2

_**Episode 2: Pilot 2/2**_

I woke up because of the dream again, the same stupid tears streaming down my face. The same thing that it always was. And, just like always, I woke up just minutes before my alarm.

At least, I think it was my alarm. It wasn't my ring tone, that was for damn sure. And it wasn't coming from my phone. I picked up the device beeping out the original Digimon theme song – I _hate_ Digimon – and ended the alarm. This thing looked familiar. It was a lot thinner than my phone, and the screen was way smaller. It actually looked like a phone instead of a wannabe tablet. I flipped it over and frowned. There was some kind of... hazard symbol on the back. It was a bloody crimson, comprised of four identical triangles and a circle overlayed on the pitch black casing. The central triangle pointed down, and the others connected by their points to one of each of the three points of that triangle. A circle ran from each of those points of connection to enclose the central circle. I had no damn idea what the Digital Hazard was doing on this weird phone.

But I did know that this thing wasn't my phone. And that it looked just like May's, if you swapped black for white and this hazard for that weird chibi dog that looked like Dory.

I put the thing on the bedside table and jumped outside. "Hey, Henry!" I shouted, knowing he'd probably already woken up for work. "Could you call my phone, I think I might have lost it!"

There was a moment of pause. Then: "Okay, I'm calling it!"

I went back into my room. I wondered where it could be. I remembered placing it on my bedside table, but I might be wrong. The same Digimon theme song began to ring from the device, but I ignored it, searching around the bedside table. After a while of nothing coming up, I decided I'd rather just shut the theme song up and I grabbed it. Emblazoned on the screen, in the same mint green as his tie, were the words 'Uncle Henry,' and a pair of red and green phone buttons beneath.

I swallowed a pit in my throat and hit the answer button. "Hey..?" I mumbled into the phone.

"You found it then?" Henry's voice came through from the other side. "Then get ready for school. I'd prefer if you didn't run out of here like a typhoon every day."

"Uh... huh," I muttered quietly as I lowered the phone to my side and ended the call. This was my phone. He had called my phone, and the call had been received by whatever this thing was. I looked down and saw a notification at the top of the screen. I dragged the menu down, in my gut knowing what it was but not wanting to believe. A new app had been downloaded. BG-444d.

When I clicked, the truth was revealed. An empty Digi-egg and a compass pointing... wait, that didn't make any sense. I glanced out the window. So, it apparently wasn't pointing directly north. I glanced back down at the phone. "Digimon location? My phone is replaced and this game becomes Pokemon Go. What else is going to change?"

I sighed and tossed the phone to my bed so I could go take a shower. I'd be taking this thing to May and we'd be having words at school. She was going to explain whatever the hell happened to my phone.

"Henry, I'm just going to get something on the way. I need to get there early to -" I slid to a stop in front of the door, where Henry was glaring a pair of men that I did not recognize. They stood outside, and it was clear one of the men was in charge of the other. He was dressed in a burgundy suit and matching tie over a black shirt. He was pretty tall, well over six feet which made Henry's 5'9" look tiny and my 5'8" no better. His blonde hair was long, but almost regally so. He exuded authority and self-assured confidence, to the point where I barely saw the other guy.

Henry was apparently the same, because his irate eyes were locked on the man. "Gethen..." he hissed up at the newcomer.

"Henry, it's been far too long," the confident man said, a smile flashing bright teeth as he did. He held a hand out to Henry and made a command that sounded like a request. "Could you let me and my associate in."

"Uh, Henry," I said, drawing everyone's attention. It was uncomfortable, withering under Henry's worried and angry glare, and the pressure of the personality of this Gethen figure in the doorway. The man's eyes narrowed on me.

"I don't believe we have met. I am Lucas Gethen, an old admirer of your father's work," the man said. He removed his off hand from his pocket and gestured at me. "And what is your name?"

Henry cut in before I could respond. "Tasuke, you're going to be late for school. Get going," he commanded. I put my hands in my pockets, feeling this odd new phone, and nodded. I was out the door, jumping into my truck just a few moments later. I glanced over before starting the car to see that Henry was inviting this guy into our home, despite the fact that it made Henry look like he wanted to punch the man. What was going on here? I'd never even heard of this Gethen guy before, and given how Henry obviously felt about the guy, I was surprised he hadn't complained at least once. I flinched when Henry's eyes turned to me, hard as steel. He motioned his head for me to go, then turned and slammed the door shut behind him.

"What the hell?" I wondered aloud. Then I started the car and pulled away, driving the question from my mind. "I'll ask Henry later. I'm going to miss my chance to talk with May."

X X X

Unfortunately, I was late. Again. It wasn't my fault! The drive through was so long, and someone pulled in right behind me, and... It wasn't my fault! But the real problem was that I missed out on my chance to talk with May before class. Instead, I had to wait all day with this unfamiliar weight in my pocket from the new phone before I could see her. She was just waiting out by her car, shaking her head. "Late again? After you were on time yesterday, I almost thought you'd changed."

"May, what the hell happened!?" I hissed, pulling up close and yanking my phone from my pocket. "What happened to my phone?"

She rolled her eyes and held her hand out. "KayKay, but do you really need me to play tech support again, Taj? Did you try turning it on and off again?" she mocked, putting on a baby voice at the end.

I slammed the phone into her palm. "Your stupid Digimon game broke it and now... this!"

She grabbed the phone and pulled it up, and the effect was immediate. She was staring at in in abject surprise. "This is..." She glanced up at me. "It happened to you, too?"

I crossed my arms. "Okay, enough," I growled. I tore the phone from her hand."What is happening?"

She gulped. "Uh... What did you get?" she asked.

I studied her for a moment. Then scoffed. "What Digimon? My phone magically transforms, and you're worried about _a game?_ "

"No!" she snapped. She sighed. "Get in my car, we need to talk." She pulled out her keys and jumped in the driver's seat and waited for me. I frowned, but eventually decided to get in after her.

"So, you want to know why your phone turned into a 3D," May began when I got in. She stared out the front of the car, then pulled hers out. "Just like mine did a few months ago."

I raised my eyebrow. "Turned into a 3D? And what's a 3D?"

She placed her phone on the console of the car. "This is a 3D, at least that's what I've found it's called in the data I've downloaded," she explained, tapping her phone's screen. "And... well, it's a Digivice."

I stared at her, face blank. She... expected me to buy this bullshit. That _Digimon_ were real? Fine, I can play along with stupidity. "Oh. So, um... where's this Digimon you have?"

"Dory. Er, _Dorimon._ She showed up, running away from somebody a few months back. She de-Digivolved and I've been hiding her as my dog ever since," May explained, face straight.

She's a lot better a liar than I thought she was. "Dorimon." She nodded. "You expect me to believe that your ugly ass dog is a Dorimon?"

"Hey! I'm not ugly, you idiot!" A purple fuzzball exploded out of the backseat and landed in my lap. I glanced down at Dory, snarling at me. "I'm beautiful."

I blinked. Then I threw my hands up and screamed. I was sure the other students in the parking lot were giving me weird looks as I threw the dog into the backseat and screamed, but I didn't really care. "That's a talking dog! You have a talking dog! Why does your ugly dog talk!?"

"Because she's a Digimon!" May snapped, throwing her hand over my mouth to shut me up. "Dorimon. Or when I met her, Dorumon."

I breathed heavily through her grip, eyes fixed on the angry do – angry do – Dammit, the angry Digimon that had bounced up on the console. "You threw me, Jerk!"

I wanted to scream again, but May didn't let go of my face. "I'm her... Digidestined?" May suggested. She picked up the device. "When I downloaded the game, I made a Digimon and my phone took a picture of me. When I woke up the next day there was a compass. I followed it to Dorumon, who was following it to me, and I helped her hide until she de-Digivolved."

May lowered her hand from my mouth and scratched Dorimon behind the ears. "We've been best friends ever since."

I stared at the sight in front of me. "D...D...D...Digimon," I muttered, left eye twitching. "Digimon."

"Please stop singing the old theme song," Dorimon oked dryly. She jumped into my lap. "So... who's your partner?"

I took a deep breath to calm myself before I did anything else. "I... haven't met it," I told the Digimon – an actual, real life _DIGIMON_ – in my lap. I pulled up my 3D and opened the new app that had appeared beside Digimon:Digidestined, labeled simply 'BG-444d.' The compass and empty Digi-egg appeared, pointing me towards... I smiled softly. Towards _my_ Digimon. "But I'm going to."

My friend stole the phone from me and hit a button, turning the compass into a map. "Huh, that's pointing to the Lakewood mall..." May noted. She bit her cheek. "How has it not been found yet? There's so many people there!"

"Well, I've been looking for a new pair of jeans. Let's go," I said, taking my 3D back from May. "And..." I couldn't hide how giddy I was. Sure, the game was stupid but this? This was like I was Tai or Davis, or one of the Digidestined! "And I want to meet my Digimon!"

X X X

The mall was crazy, filled with people bustling around and running into each other. Dorimon whined in May's arms as she was constantly jostled about and nearly tossed to the ground. "There are so many people here!" May hissed as another woman hit her shoulder. "New Digimon hate people they don't know, so how has yours not hurt someone?"

"I don't know," I hissed as we passed another clothing store on our way to the food court, because 'Digimon are always so hungry.' I glanced down at the compass, glad to see that – for the most part – it was thrumming along to point in front of us. "Maybe I got a weak Digimon that can't hurt people."

"That sounds like what you'd get," Dorimon muttered, earning a few weird looks that May had to deal with.

"Stupid dog, no one asked you," I hissed as we entered the slightly more open food court. I walked past the Cinabbon and caught sight of the massive wall to wall blockade in the next hallway. "We're never going to get through..."

"Don't be that way, we'll -"

"Hey!" Dorimon yipped, the pupils of he orange eyes became tiny dots. "I smell something!" She began to violently wriggle about in May's arms, thrashing against her grip.

"Dorimon, what is it?" May hissed, tightening her grip on the Digimon. "Stop it!"

Then Dorimon kicked her a little harder and bounced out of her arms, rolling across the ground before finding footing on her stubby little legs. "I can smell something crazy!" she shouted before bounding off to the entrance we had just passed.

"Dory, wait!" May shouted, chasing after her ugly Digimon.

I sighed and took off after May. "Stupid Dorimon," I grumbled before pulling up beside May and pushing out the door. We both glanced around. "Where'd she go?"

May pulled out her 3D. "She's heading this way!" she exclaimed before turning to the right and sprinting along the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding crashing into people.

"May! Wait up!" I called as I took off after her as well. Thankfully, she was clearing a path through the people ahead of us, and that path was left wide open in her wake for me to follow her. I followed her around the target built into the mall, then back into the parking lot, apologizing to the honking cars and annoyed people walking through the lot. "May, where are we heading?"

She didn't answer, simply running full bore towards the parking garage on the far side of the parking lot. "May!" I snapped, trying my hardest to keep up even as I lost distance on her. Damn her constant conditioning! She tore through the door of the parking garage and turned immediately up the stairs, shouting for Dorimon. I slid to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, cursing to myself. "Dammit, May! Wait up!" I caught my breath and sprinted up after her, ignoring the cramp in my side. Stupid, stupid, ugly Dorimon!

The third floor door was still sliding closed when I reached it, and I tore through, slamming into May's back. We tumbled to the ground, yelling out in surprise more than pain as we rolled. We quickly came to a stop and I pushed up to my feet. "May, would you wait up?"

"What are you?"

I glanced up and froze, just as May had. There, standing in front of us, was Dorimon staring up at a snarling black, red, and white dinosaur with that weird hazard symbol on its chest. It looked so familiar, just like... "Guilmon!"

The dinosaur's golden, reptilian eyes turned on me. It bared its teeth and I could see the smoke rising out from behind them. I swallowed my fear and reached into my pocket, eliciting a snarl from the dinosaur. Then, as slowly as I could, I pulled out my 3D. The compass was spinning wildly, telling me that I had arrived at my destination. Then, after a moment, the compass vanished and was replaced with an image of the Digimon in front of us, as well as information about it in white script. "Black Guilmon, the black hazard Digimon and a Guilmon completely corrupted by its Viral instincts. It uses its Pyro Grenade attack to deep fry its prey and uses its claws with Rock Crusher to flatten anything that survives. A Virus type Digimon." I swallowed my fear. Virus type Digimon, in the show at least, tended to be hyper violent and... well, evil. There was another sentence in yellow words below that. "Your Digimon partner."

The Digimon's snarl slowly vanished at those words. It still had this look of rage, with slit pupils and smoke rising from its nostrils, but it wasn't growling. It took a slow few steps towards me. "Hey, you never answered my question!" Dorimon shouted, jumping in his path. The claws swiped at Dorimon and the purple fuzzball went flying. May cried out and sprinted after her, barely managing to dive in her path and catch Dorimon before she hit the wall.

I was frozen, eyes locked on those of the creature approaching me. Fear was filling my every muscle with terror. This creature was a predator of creatures with minds. Not animals, but – for lack of a better comparison – people. Its claws were leaving gouges in the concrete almost an inch deep. It stopped in front of me, sniffing me cautiously. "Partner..." It growled. The creature stood up as tall as it could, which still gave me a few inches on it, and the smoke stopped rising. Its eyes, though, remained the same. Feral and hungry. "I am disappointed. How will you make me the strongest?"

I blinked, surprise replacing my fear. "You can talk?" I shook my head. "Of course you can. You're a Digimon."

"Answer my question," the nasally but feral voice growled. It bared its teeth again. "How could you be my human?"

I did not like his tone. I raised my 3D. "I have this. I'm your Digidestined."

The Black Guilmon scoffed. He smirked. "Digidestined? What is this, a game?" he asked mockingly. "If so, I'd be better off if you went and played with that female over there." His head jerked towards May. "I am here to become the strongest Digimon. Nothing less than a Mega will be acceptable!"

"Well you can't Digivolve without me!" I snapped, drawing on all the information I had from the shows. "We're connected!"

The Black Guilmon growled. "Then perhaps if I kill you, this connection will find someone else!" He hissed, the smoke rising in his mouth again.

"Shut up!" My fist lashed out, slamming into Black Guilmon's snout. The fire in its throat flew up, but not out of its now shut mouth, and its eyes bulged out of its head. Black Guilmon wobbled side to side in surprise, as the attack had collided with the inside of its maw.

It eventually shook its head and leveled its gaze on me, the reptilian glare full of amusement. "Well, that's something," he growled mockingly. He took a step back. "Tasuke, is it? Fine. You've at least got fire..." He turned and sniffed the air, ears angling up and the reptilian coldness in its eyes intensifying. "Prey..."

Dorimon was looking just as anxious. "May, there's another Digimon close by!" she shouted, wriggling around again. "I'm going to go find it!"

"Shut up. It's coming to us," Black Guilmon growled gruffly. He sniffed the air and turned towards the other side of the parking garage, the fire glowing from behind its clenched teeth again. "Pyro... Grenade!" And the orange and purple glow shot from his mouth and towards the shadows.

"Rock Fist!" Came the words that echoed from the direction the attack was heading. A number of rocks shot from the darkness and into the fiery attack, changing the angle of the flame and sending it flying towards the ceiling. I gasped as the attack exploded, and the roof above exploded. Stone and pieces of car began to fall down from above, slamming into the floor and sending dust and debris flying everywhere. Another bunch of rocks flew from the debris cloud, rocketing towards Black Guilmon.

"Use Rock Crusher!" I shouted at him.

The Digimon instead turned his gaze from the attacks coming his way. "Do not tell me what to do, human!" He snapped, his rage turning towards me. The attack, because of his stupidity, slammed into the side of his head and he was sent stumbling.

"Gotsumon, 1. Ugly, 0!" Came a tiny voice from the cloud of debris, at which point a tiny human shaped bunch of walking rocks jumped out with its fists in front of it. It was grinning wide, like it had just gotten a big gift. "It's been so long since I've seen another Digimon, and even longer since I got to load Data! This is going to be fun!"

"Fun?" Black Guilmon asked. He grinned and opened his eyes before turning on the Gotsumon. "I think so, too!" Then he took off, going from 0 to 60 faster than I thought anything could. He charged black flames along the edge of his claws and held them out to the side. "ROCK CRUSHER!" He threw his claws forward, slamming them into the ground where Gotsumon had been standing. The parking garage shuddered and more dust fell from above, but thankfully none of the cars already dangling precariously decided to tumble down.

The Gotsumon landed heavily and unharmed on the debris pile in the center of the building, suddenly lacking its grin. It lashed out with its fist, now glowing bright white. "Hardest Punch!"

Black Guilmon jumped to the side, black tail swaying to help him keep balance, and avoided the attack. He rushed forward and wrapped his teeth around Gotsumon's torso, then turned and threw it before he could get hit. Gotsumon cried out as it tumbled through the air before landing like a – forgive me – pile of rocks on top of a sedan. Black Guilmon was already charging it, black smoke streaming from his jaws. "Pyro Grenade!" The fireball shot out and slammed into the sedan, melting through some of the door before whatever held the energy together exploded. The Gotsumon shrieked in pain and was thrown by the attack and exploding car, soaring until it collided with a pillar holding the roof up. The smoking wreck of the car was creaking and the ground beneath it cracking.

"Careful! You're going to destroy the building with us in it!" I shouted at Black Guilmon.

He, of course, ignored me. He just charged the Gotsumon and wrapped his teeth around the rock Digimon's head. The Gotsumon was crying out in fear and pain as the teeth began to slowly tighten along his skull. "I wanted a snack," Black Guilmon hissed from around the terrified Gotsumon's head. The rock monster began to struggle as the teeth intered its body and it began to glitch out, its data beginning to fall apart. "You'll do." Another Pyro Grenade exploded in Black Guilmon's jaws, and the Gotsumon disappeared with a shriek of terror. Green data exploded out as the Digimon died, slowly turning black and red as Black Guilmon slowly loaded the energy into his body.

Then he turned on May and her terrified Dorimon. A long reptilian tongue rolled out and he made to look like he was licking his lips. "Now for the second course..."

 _WHAT!?_ I jumped between him and May, my arms spread out. "No! You can't do that!" I told him, hoping my position as his Digidestined would mean something, at least.

He stopped walking, glaring at me in disgust. _"No?_ " he asked in disbelief. He laughed, bellows that echoed evilly off of the destroyed building's walls. "No? You think you can stop me, human?"

"I'm Tasuke," I retorted. I didn't move. "And May and Dorimon are our friends."

"Yours, maybe," Black Guilmon scoffed, moving to go past me. I got in his way again, and he gave me a dry look. "Really? I could just push through you."

"But you won't."

He narrowed his eyes. "Don't try me, Tasuke," he warned, voice a low growl. His eyes narrowed on the terrified May and Dorimon. "I'll be eating that snack."

"No. And we need to get out of here before the police arrive! You destroyed this place, and it's not safe," I explained, briefly wondering where my bravery in this... _monster's_ face was coming from. I held out my hand. "Come with me. We can sort everything out later."

He glanced down at my hand. "More humans are coming? And they would capture me again?" he inquired, nervous for the first time.

"Again?" I wondered.

Black Guilmon growled and turned away from me. "If more Digimon appear, I will find you, _Tasuke_ ," he snapped before running off and leaping out of the parking garage.

May and I watched him go. "He's bigger jerk than you!" Dorimon shouted once she was sure she was safe from the feral creature's wrath.

"Come on. We need to get out of here before police arrive," I said, ignoring the little Digimon's bait. I grabbed May's wrist. "We can worry about Black Jerkmon later."

Dorimon laughed. "You agree with me!"

May frowned at her Digimon. "It sounded like he's being chased by those humans, too," she muttered at the purple furball. "But who are they?"

X X X

"We'll have a bottle of your finest red and three filet mignon," Lucas Gethen told the waiter. The man nodded and ran off, leaving their private room in the steakhouse. Gethen smiled and took a slow sip of his water before looking towards his guest and underling. Agent Zubel seemed excited to be here. Of course he was. On his salary, he may never eat in a place like this again. Henry Wong, on the other hand, was glaring daggers at his host. "Oh, Henry, do try to calm down. It has been quite some time since I had an opportunity to speak to one of the old generation of Digidestined."

"Tamers," Henry retorted. He crossed his arms and changed the subject. "What do you need? Are my Digital World barriers not working on your little nursery?"

"No, they are performing excellently. In fact, they held back a rookie that had an energy signature not dissimilar to that of a Champion level Digimon," Gethen explained. He smiled appreciatively. "You have done excellent work."

Henry clenched his fists in his lap. "Then what do you want, Gethen?"

Gethen sighed. "Always so formal. We're old friends, are we not, Henry? Please, use my first name," he requested, waving his hand to stave off the formalities.

"What do you want, _Gethen_?" Henry growled unflinchingly.

Gethen sighed. "Well, your Digital barriers are working excellently, as I said. However, that Digimon I just told you of? It escaped the Nursery and Bio-emerged nonetheless. It attacked the Nursery until we let it out."

Henry's face turned to fear and disgust. "It attacked unborn and infant Digimon?" he asked, horrified. "But they're defenseless!"

"It loaded all of their data. Letting it go was the only thing that stopped it," Agent Zubel explained. Henrgy cast a glance in the man's direction and the agent flinched. "Uh, Mr. Wong."

"Yes. So we had to let it Bio-emerge."

"You just let a Digimon like that out into the wild? Who knows what kind of madman would be the partner to a creature like that?" the former Digimon Tamer snapped, slamming his fist on the table. "Any deaths that come will be on your head!"

"Which is why we sent a Digimon we have a tracker on to follow it through the Digital veil. We know exactly where it bio-emerged from our nursery," Gethen explained. He tapped his hand on the table. "Here. In this city."

Henry palled. "What?"

"I did not believe it was coincidence, of course. You are here, and this the second powerful Digimon to escape to this city in the past year. I wonder why that is?" Gethen inquired, motioning for Henry to quiet down. The man did, fixing his glasses so he could hide his face with his hand. "Are you pulling them here?"

"I have no connection to any of D-CARD's facilities," Henry explained sullenly. He lowered his hand and glared somberly at Gethen. "Even if I wanted to pull a Digimon as evil as what you described here, I couldn't."

Gethen smiled. "Obviously, I know you wouldn't do it. But it remains... interesting, doesn't it? As if the Digital World and its little Gnomes are swirling around you yet again. And with that boy so close -"

"Leave Tasuke out of this," Henry snapped, steely eyes demanding it.

Gethen laughed again and held his hands up disarmingly. "I would never _dream_ of hurting that boy. Leaving him in peace was one of your stipulations when you agreed to work for your citizenship, after all." Gethen shook his head before continuing, "No. But given who his parents are, it would not surprise me if everything that is happening begins to encroach upon him."

Henry's eyes fell. "He despises Digimon, and his parents," Henry explained hollowly. "The Digi Gnomes are attracted to children's hope, love, and wishes connected to the Digital World." Henry shook his head. "None of those describe Tasuke's relationship to Digimon."

"Hm... Ostensibly," Gethen agreed. He shrugged. "But humans often tell themselves that what they love, is in actuality what they despise. A clever trick to avoid pain."

Henry glared at Gethen. "Perhaps. But nothing has happened with Tasuke. There is no Digimon in his life. He's not a Tamer, or Digidestined, or whatever you want to call it. He's normal."

"As normal as a boy who was raised among Digimon for four years can be," he replied dismissively. "As normal as the child of Takato Matsuki could ever _hope_ to be."

"Don't say his name," Henry demanded, surging to his feet. "You and people like you are the reason Tasuke's parents disappeared. The reason Terriermon and the Digimon had to return to the Digital World! They aren't weapons for you to use. They're alive."

Gethen nodded. "Of course they are. But that does not change that the governments of the world saw what your Digimon could accomplish. Mega Level Digimon, capable of turning entire cities to ash on their own. The next great arms race began because of you and your friends playing in Shinjuku," he explained. "Make no mistake, Digimon will be used as weapons. If not by governments, then by anyone else who can get hold of one. Better as secrets in our hands than as the nuke a terrorist threatens us with."

"And you still don't understand Digimon and the connection people have with them," Henry sighed, earning an annoyed and angry glare from Gethen. Henry sat down and tented his hands in front of his face. "And it is not something I will explain to you. You wouldn't understand anyways."

"Humor me, at least, if you know so much," Gethen snarled, placing his own hands on top of the table. He gripped his fork and began to twirl it between his fingers.

"Digimon and humans, they balance each other. Horrible powers in Digimon can be tamed only if humans and Digimon balance one another. Bloodthirsty tendencies and timidity, calls to action and caution. It's a balance, but it is one based on goodness and freedom, not power and slavery."

Gethen stared quietly. "Sure," he scoffed. He leaned back and placed his fork on the table again. "Regardless, I would only ask that you alert us if – and when – these Digimon reveal themselves. We will be searching independently, of course, but... we would appreciate your help."

"If I haven't seen head or tails of the Digimon you lost months ago, I doubt I will see this one," Henry said, voice making it abundantly clear he would not actively search for the creatures.

Still, Gethen had one more trick up his sleeve. "Fine. Then allow me to tell you what Digimon you will be searching for after our dinner is concluded," the head of D-CARD requested. Henry eventually nodded in agreement and Gethen smiled wider. "Dorumon is the first. Purple with a large red gem in its forehead," he explained. He leaned forward, the closeness and intensity of his stare surprising and unnerving Henry. "The second was a Black Guilmon."

Henry didn't react at first; the name of the Digimon was just echoing through his mind. _Black Guilmon. That's... A Black Guilmon. But Guilmon was made up by Takato. How the hell..? That's not... No. No way. Another Guilmon couldn't just appear, could it? So that must mean..._

"I see you're thinking the same thing as I am, Henry Wong," Lucas Gethen said as he returned to his seat and studied the ex-Tamer's face. "Takato Matsuki has to be connected in some way, yes? Do you see why I was suspicious of the boy, now? A virally tainted version of his father's creation and partner? It seemed as if the stars aligned." He shrugged. "Or perhaps it is too easy like that. Perhaps there is something else or someone else at play. I suppose there is no way to know. Until we find it, of course."

"I will tell you if this Black Guilmon shows up. You have my word," Henry stated, feeling the fight leave him. "And this Dorumon as well. I will tell you whatever I find out." He fixed his glasses again. "Is the old number still in service?"

"Of course, old friend," Gethen said with a grin. He glanced up as the waiters moved into the room. "Ah, now time for food. Let us move to livelier topics than work, hm?"

X X X

 _Wait a minute. Tasuke is **my** kid? That's crazy... I can't imagine being that old! I wonder what happened to me. But Tasuke has bigger worries, like this Gethen guy and D-CARD. What are they up to? And where did Black Guilmon go?_

 _Find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!_

 _Wait a second... Who's Tasuke's mom!?_


	3. Partners: Finding Black Jerkmon!

**AN: Hey everybody, sorry this took so long. My computer finally broke down and I needed to get a new one before I could do anything. On top of that, it was Thanksgiving, so I got to spend a lot of time with family. Which reminds me, I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving.**

 **I hope you enjoy this next chapter. I had fun writing the character interactions.**

 **Anyhoo, time for responses:**

 **To SeekerOfDarkN: I'm glad you loved the pilot chapters. I hope that it can live up to expectations and that the rest of the main cast as they show up will entertain as much!**

 **To smartalec121: Thanks, I'm glad you like the character dynamics. Black Guilmon is my favorite for interacting with the others, just because of how confrontational he can be. I'm glad you like Henry's life as adoptive parent, I thought it fit pretty well in my gut. As for Jaarin being May's mother, there is a reason. I hope it doesn't disappoint when it eventually appears.**

 **To G3r1k: Thanks. Tamers was always my favorite season. For one because they all had a Digimon best friend but also _became_ a Digimon, which is awesome. Kotemon is a fun Digimon. He's got a cool design.**

 _ **Episode 3: Partners: Finding Black Jerkmon!**_

"Okay, I am finally willing to accept," I began, leaning back on the crappy stool May had for me in her room, "that I am a... Digidestined. I mean, I thought it was a dream. Or with Black Guilmon, maybe a nightmare. But I'm sure it happened now."

Dorimon glared at me from May's lap. "Yeah, because me talking to you for the past three days didn't do that?" she inquired. The tiny Digimon sighed. "May, why are we listening to your dumb friend today? It's Friday! You know what that means! Candy day!"

"We're busy, Dorimon. Remember how long it took for me to get used to the idea that you were a Digimon?" May asked, reaching down to scratch the Digimon's belly and get an appreciative growl out of her. "I screamed every morning for a week when you spoke to me!"

"I think having May around made this a lot faster," I explained. I tapped my chin. "And quieter. No screaming from me."

"Yeah, if May hadn't been around, you'd never get used to it!" Dorimon shouted, jumping from May's lap and over to mine. She kicked me in the gut. "So you better thank her, Jerk!"

"Dorimon' right," May said, wagging her finger at me.

"I – Thanks," I told May. I shoved the annoying in-training Digimon into the ground, grinning at her yelp of surprise. "Now... can I ask you a few questions. Like why I needed to bring all of these?" I patted the box on the ground to the left of my stool. "I mean, Digimon are one thing, but Digimon _cards_? What's the point?"

"Ah, now for the fun part of this," May said as she pulled out her 3D. "So... it's all connected to this thing. At least, that's what I've learned from the data I've downloaded."

I pulled out my own 3D. "Well, I know it's a Digivice. I'm assuming that comes with the whole 'Digivolution' thing," I pointed out.

"Yep, and that's where _this_ comes in," she explained before entering her own Digimon app, D-444d. The screen turned black, revealing a menu and buttons. "Now, I don't know what all of it means. Merge rate, defense alert, and key are all... weird. They don't have any way for me to change them, and the data I get from them is... incomprehensible. The first two have a bunch of words I don't understand, and the last one I only get every third byte when I download, and always the same third. I'm trying to figure that one out."

"Okay, then tell him all the cool stuff you _do_ know, May!" Dorimon shouted, standing up on her hind legs and leaning against May's shin with her front legs. "Like how to make me digivolve... if you'd let me digivolve."

May shot the Digimon a dirty look. "Well," she began, turning away from her Digimon, "there's one big one in here." She pointed at a menu labeled Dorimon, then pressed it. The screen changed from the menu, something else quickly expanding into view. The side of the phone popped open and sparks danced through the new opening, just as the screen turned into a deck of cards. "The phone can scan any Digimon cards you have -"

"Which is why you made me bring mine," I interjected, earning the exact same glare from Dorimon and May.

"Which is why I made you bring your cards," May explained simply, her annoyed glare yet to vanish. "And you can set up decks. I imported mine from the Digidestined game. You see, this little button in the corner that says import? It's that easy!"

"Okay, and _why_?" I repeated, crossing my arms and leaning against the wall.

"Well, it lets you do things to your Digimon, but _in real life!_ " May explained excitedly. She turned her 3D back to her then pressed on the screen. "Just watch, Taj!"

Dorimon sighed. "Here we go again," she growled under her breath.

"Digi-Modify: Hyper Wings activate!" May said, grinning widely.

Dorimon whined as six white, angelic wings shot out of her back. She slowly drifted up on the wings, each maybe six inches long, and hovered. "And now I'll be floating for ten minutes. Great."

I ignored the tiny monster's complaining, and instead entered my own Digimon's app. Unlike her own 3D, mine had a warning screen pop up when I opened the cards. 'Out of Range.' I turned the phone around to show May. "Hm... I guess these won't work if we get too far separated from our Digimon."

I scoffed. "You didn't already know that?"

May shook her head. "I'm never all that far from Dory. She's in the car or running around school when we're there, and she's always with me whenever we're anywhere else," she explained. May shrugged. "Benefits of her in-training form being the same size as a purse dog."

"And some students leave food in their unlocked cars!" Dorimon shouted excitedly.

"Oh, I – wait, you stole my cookies!?" I snapped at the floating Digimon in front of my face. She just laughed and drifted past me on her glowing wings. I narrowed my eyes at the Digimon for a moment, then swatted her. Dorimon yelped and began to spin until she bounced off of a shelf. I smirked at the Digimon before turning back to May. "Okay, so you can give your dog wings."

May scoffed indignantly. "I can do a _lot_ more," she said indignantly. Her expression turned to one of embarrassment. "Uh, I may or may not have accidentally turned Dorimon into solid metal with a steel skin card. When she was on my bed."

My face lost its emotion for a moment, then broke into laughter. "That's how you broke your old bed?"

"It was _one_ accident _!_ And... I almost never use the card upgrades anymore," she admitted sullenly. "If I did anything serious, whoever is chasing Dorimon would definitely find her... and take her."

I stopped laughing like I'd hit a brick wall, and suddenly felt unsure of what to say. "Then I guess, uhm, that you and I better keep her safe," I said, grabbing the spinning and shouting Digimon and steadying her. I softly pushed the tiny creature towards her Digidestined. May smiled thankfully and pulled the winged Digimon into her arms with a tight hug. I smiled at the scene, just a girl and her dog. Her ugly dog. Her ugly, digital dog. "Now, how does Digivolution work?"

May froze and her hug tightened on Dorimon. "Ack! May! Choking... me!"

May let up with a start and smoothed Dorimon's hair. "Oh, I'm... I'm sorry, Girl." She turned her attention to me and frowned. "It doesn't. If my Digimon – or yours – ever Digivolve, then it's over. It's bad enough you've got an angry, fire-breathing dinosaur running around looking for a fight, can you imagine if we had two? Or worse, if Black Guilmon was suddenly the size of Greymon? These people chasing my – _our_ Digimon would immediately get hold of them. And then they'd tear them apart, or... or enslave them!"

"I can take care of the both of us, you know," Dorimon said indignantly from inside of May's arms. She began to move around excitedly. "Especially if I digivolved! Dorumon kicks butt!"

"Dorimon!" May snapped, causing me and her Digimon to flinch. May's voice became low, commanding. "You _cannot_ Digivolve."

After a few moments of tense silence, I coughed and raised my own 3D. I pointed at the bottom left corner of the screen. "So, I noticed when you were showing me your 3D that yours has a difference from mine."

May leaned in closer. "Merge rate... 0? Mine's never dropped below 25 percent!" she said, letting go of Dorimon completely and pulling my Digivice from my hands. She frowned and turned around, pulling a chord out that connected her computer to my 3D.

"So, you're not even going to ask permission?" I inquired dryly, watching as she ignored me and began to download the data from my 3D.

"You know you can't talk to her when she's like this," Dorimon said as she drifted to a stop beside my head.

I scoffed. "Anytime she gets interested in something computer related, she drowns everything else out," I agreed with a grin. "Still, it doesn't happen too much, anymore."

After a little while, May's computer beeped and she finally pulled my Digivice from the computer and tossed it back to me. She didn't turn to me, so it nearly sailed past where I could reach and I crashed over the edge of the bed and to the ground. Thank God her parents and brothers were out; didn't need them rushing in and seeing a flying dog. I popped up over the edge of the bed, barely clutching my Digivice. May still hadn't noticed. "Hm... I – wait! This is another third of the Key data! It doesn't have a single bit of information in common with mine." She went quiet and still for a moment, then stored the data. "Interesting... Whatever the Key program is, we're supposed to be able to use it, but only together." She grinned and turned to me. "It's just like the shows! Digidestined can only do great things together!"

"But what does it _open?_ " I asked.

"A door, Dummy!" Dorimon said from beside my head. The wings flickered as I turned to her. Dorimon frowned as I did, something slowly turning on gears in its binary brain.

"Is there a problem, Ugly?" I asked the Digimon.

Dorimon growled for a moment, then stopped. "So, we know your Digimon partner is Black Guilmon," Dorimon said slowly. "Umm... What's a 'Guilmon?'"

And then her wings were absent, just like my ability to answer that question .Dorimon yelped and hit the ground, tiny stubs of legs wiggling wildly in the air as she tried to roll over. "May! Help me, I'm turtling!"

 **X X X**

Henry Wong sat at the desk in his basement, hands clutching at his hair as he stared down at the crackling screen that rested on the wooden table. His computer, plugged into the tiny machine by a single cable gave a quiet readout that revealed almost nothing. Henry eventually surged to his feet and kicked the stool, sending it tumbling tot he ground as he snarled with rage and pulled at his hair. "I just... Dammit," he growled, letting go of his hair. He walked over to the wall and leaned against it, falling to sit down and bury his face in his knees. Momentai yipped and rushed down the stairs, leaning against his side to comfort him. He looked over at the dog and smiled sadly before placing a hand on the terrier's head. "I'm driving myself crazy with this."

Momentai looked up at him and cocked his head to the side. "Just... can I pretend, for a minute?" Hentry asked the dog, earning a blank, happy stare. Henry shook his head. "Yeah, okay. Why am I asking?" Henry picked up the dog and put him in his lap. "For the next few minutes, just sit there and let me pretend you're Terriermon. Then maybe I'll give you some treats." More blank stare.

So Henry answered for him, putting on a high pitched, sarcastic tone of voice. "Jeez, Henry. Talking to a dog? People are gonna start talking!"

He sighed and shook his head. That didn't sound quite right. Even if it had been decades, he should remember how Terriermon spoke a little better than that. Henry took a breath and changed his voice a bit, making it more sarcastic and slightly less high pitched. "Ahem... Momentai, Henry! No one could flawlessly copy perfection!"

Henry glared at the happy dog. "Yeah, that one sounded about right..." The dog yipped and cocked its head to the side, tongue rolling out as it panted. Henry shrugged. "Terriermon, how the hell am I going to find you or the others? Tasuke deserves to know his parents, the other Digimon deserve to see their partners, and... dammit! I deserve to see you again!"

The dog whined and leaned up to lick at Henry's face, trying to calm him. Henry laughed and brought the dog in for a hug. Taking on the Terriermon voice again, Henry said, "C'mon, Henry, you and I both know you've got this! You know those computers better than your dad now."

"Thanks, Terrier-"

"Besides, my partner has to be a genius. I mean, look at me!"

Henry frowned. "Maybe I'm getting too in to this," he muttered under his breath as he realized he had interrupted himself.

The static on his D-Power digivice continued crackling along. When he'd first seen that the D-Power had finally done something more than sit there silently, he'd been ecstatic. This was progress! Maybe something he had done to it had activated one of the device's systems or a D-Power like Takato's or Ryu's had connected with it from the Digital world. When the static had continued without a break for three days, no matter what he did or what card he slid through the Digivice, he had asked himself a single question: had it activated because of the Black Guilmon?

It made a certain level of sense, even if it terrified him. He had checked it for the first time in a couple days immediately after his meal with Gethen, and it served to reinforce his worry that this Black Guilmon was connected to Takato. He had briefly wondered if Tasuke was indeed involved, but the boy hadn't done anything in the past few days that Henry or his friends had done as kids when they had first received their Digimon. No, Tasuke had stayed home or went over to see Jaarin's family every day. No adventuring or sudden changes. And no D-Power. Which, to be fair, didn't mean much. After all, Henry was almost certain that groups like Hypnos or D-CARD had either found or developed new digivices by now. Still, he believed Tasuke was not involved with real Digimon. He hadn't come home with bruises or burns yet, after all.

Henry sighed and put Momentai down before pushing up to his feet, groaning at the creaking in his knees. "Wow, when did you get older than your dad, Henry?"

Henry froze and shook his head. "Yeah, I'm getting _way_ too in to this," he groaned. He walked up the stairs, Momentai bounding up beside him. "I need a break."

X X X

I took a bite of my Cinnabon as I walked outside of the mall where May and I had met Black Guilmon a few days earlier. I had decided after leaving May's house that I was going to look for him, even if the Digimon had been... less than nice. We were partners, and if the shows and games were anything to judge by that meant that we'd need each other soon. Bad attitude and all. I took another bite of my cinnamon roll before turning to walk towards the parking garage.

It was a mess, people all around the building. Construction engineers planning how to fix it, building inspectors and cops investigating how it had been destroyed, and men in suits whispering to each other. I walked up to the police line, thankfully disguised by the crowd of people that were ogling the destruction and whispering about what could have caused it. This got me close enough to one of the groups of suits to hear a snippet of their conversation before they saw how close the crowd was getting and they bolted. Something about 'unsure if it was the target.' I hoped these weren't the guys hunting down Dorimon. If they thought the destruction was Black Guilmon or Dorimon's fault, then it would be hard for me to run around with my Digimon. I might actually have to listen to May and avoid getting Black Guilmon up to snuff for whatever world ending threat was coming. I mean, I hoped was coming. I mean – Agh, can't I just want to live out my oldest childhood dream?

It was weird. I still hated the card game, and that stupid game that had given me Black Guilmon. They reminded me too much of my parents even still. But a real Digimon was something to be excited about.

Anyways, I tried to get a good look at the destruction that Black Guilmon had unleashed on the parking garage. It was... bad. I hadn't really noticed during the fight but he had not cared at all about collateral damage. The Pyro Grenade that had hit the ceiling had apparently collided close to the edge of the top floor, and the destruction had only weakened the building. Cars had fallen both into the garage and out of it, crashing into the parking lot below. And then there was the support beam that the Gotsumon had hit. The collision had weakened the concrete and another part of the ceiling was clearly caved in. I took another bite instead of grimacing. Yeah, getting caught was bad for one more reason now: I'd probably have to pay for that.

I turned and walked away, making sure to avoid pulling out my 3D until I was well away from those suits. When I got to the door of the Target, I tossed the empty Cinnabon container into the trash and checked my bag to make sure the other one was still okay, then pulled out my Digivice. I tapped on the BG-444d app and tapped again to access the map. Apparently Black Guilmon had run south after our meeting, into the north edge of a park not far south. The label on the map said 'William Frederick Hayden Park.' Luckily it looked like he was on a trail connected to a suburban area, but far enough off that nobody would find him on accident. He was smart, at least. If I headed over there, I'd run in to him sooner rather than later with my compass. I shoved my 3D back in my pocket and took a deep breath. Time to find Black Jerkmon.

It took five minutes to get to the corner connected to the park trail, and another thirty minutes of walking before I realized I was not dressed for this. Slip on sneakers did not make for a good hiking shoe. On the other hand, it was too late to care about that. My compass was moving from side to side pretty quickly, now, meaning I was close enough that the smallest movement on Black Guilmon's part made the compass move like crazy. I sighed and stretched my neck then glanced up at the sky past the sparse trees. It was almost dark. Hm... this had been a really dumb decision. Incredibly dumb.

"What are you doing here?"

I yelped, spun around, and fell to my back. The glowing yellow eyes and steaming fiery mouth of Black Guilmon were all that were visible in the darkness under the shade of the thin line of trees we were beneath. He took a step towards me, out of the shade, and his red lines and outline were soon revealed. "Answer me, _Tasuke!_ "

I swallowed my fear and stood up straight. "You could say please," I told the Digimon, earning an angry scoff from the dinosaur.

"No," he said indignantly. He growled and stood up as tall as he could. "I see your personality hasn't improved."

I crossed my arms. " _MY_ personality!?" I shook my head. "I -"

"Shut up," he suddenly said, rushing past me and stuffing his head in my backpack – it must've gotten slightly opened once I'd fallen down. He made muffled noises – words, I think – before tearing his snout out of my pack. "You have a Kin Nae Bon?"

I turned around, dumbfounded. "A... what?"

"Kin Nae Bon! The sweet, spicy things from that building!" he growled, his usually reptilian pupils rounded now. "Gimme gimme gimme!" Even his voice was slightly less angry.

"A... Cinnabon?"

Black Guilmon's head tilted to the side. "Cinnabon?" he inquired. He leaped forward, tearing my backpack from my shoulders. "Gimme gimme gimme!"

"Jeez, and here I thought you were a dangerous monster," I said dryly. He raised a claw and – "No! I can unzip it, don't just... and you've torn my backpack to shreds. Great."

He pulled his head out of my backpack's tattered remains, entire face coated in frosting and cinnamon. "More."

"I don't have more," I growled. Then I gestured at the backpack. "Or a backpack to carry any more, you moron."

He didn't seem concerned with that, as he tackled me to the ground, his feet keeping my shoulders trapped against the ground. His sharp teeth leaned in towards my face, eyes reptilian once more. "More..." he growled threateningly.

Well, this seemed as good a time as any. "Well, if you came with me, I could... buy you more?" I suggested, hoping that was enough.

Black Guilmon leaned back. "If I came with you?" he repeated. He took a step off of me. "No. No, I don't think so." His long tongue stretched out and he licked his own face clean.

I propped myself up on my elbows. "And why not?" I asked indignantly. "Am I not good enough?"

"No," Black Guilmon answered plainly. His eyes met mine. In a mocking voice, he continued, "Not yet. You still believe in a child's fantasy. That we're going to be friends and play together and save the world!" He laughed sarcastically and his voice returned to normal. "The closest you're going to get is helping me kill whatever humans are chasing me."

"I'm not killing anyone," I growled.

"Fine. Then the Digimon they send after me at least," he growled dismissively. "It's their data I really want, anyways."

I shook my head. "I'm honestly not too happy about that either," I told him.

He growled, "Tough luck. Data will help me Digivolve faster, and then I'll be the strongest."

I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere with this. He'd conceded on murdering people, I guess I could work on him murdering Digimon as we went. "Ugh... Whatever. As long as you don't attack May or Dorimon again." I got to my feet and groaned. "It's dark."

Black Guilmon raised an... eye... crest. He looked at me nonplussed. "But the path is visible right there," he said, gesturing with his head.

I followed the gesture with my head, then turned back to him. "To you, maybe."

He looked even more confused. "... Can humans not see in the dark?"

It was my turn to be confused. "... No..."

"Huh," Black Guilmon simply grunted. He turned his glare towards me for a minute, then sighed. "Well... Follow me." And then he began walking in the same direction that he had gestured.

"Wait, are you... helping me?"

Black Guilmon stopped moving and looked back at me. "You gave me a Kin Nae – Er, a Cinnabon. So just follow me." He began walking again.

"Well, if you won't live with me, how are we going to meet up when another Digimon shows up?" I asked as I began to follow.

Black Guilmon didn't look back at me. "I can smell my prey as they appear. If anything shows up, I will be there to load the data," he said with a hungry grin.

My frown deepened. After a while: "BG, can I ask you a question?"

Black Guilmon stopped walking. "What did you call me?"

"BG..?"

He glared at me. "No."

I sighed. " _Black Guilmon_ , can I ask you a question?"

He began walking again. "I don't think I could stop you."

I laughed. "True," I admitted. My mood soured. "So, why do you want to load the data of other Digimon?"

He tossed another confused glance towards me. "To grow stronger and Digivolve, I told you."

I shook my head. "But everything I know about Digimon says you need me to Digivolve."

He shrugged. "Loading Data can't hurt. It can only make me stronger," he explained simply. "And if I grow strong enough to defeat a Champion as a Rookie, then imagine what I could do as a Champion, or an Ultimate... A _Mega_."

"Okay, so it's to get stronger." I nodded. "Okay, so are you trying to do something?"

He nodded. "Load data."

"I mean is there a reason to load data?"

"To get stronger."

I sighed, annoyed. "Is there a reason to get stronger?"

That one seemed to really confuse him. He stopped and turned to me again. "Is there a reason to get stronger? What do you mean?" he inquired slowly, as if thinking I was trying to trick him.

"I mean... like are you trying to save some village in the Digital world?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Uh... get revenge?"

"No, not yet," he supplied.

"Er... finding someone?" I suggested, my deepest wish leaking out for a moment.

"I have already found you. What reason is there for strength beyond strength, Tasuke? Strength is its own reward," he explained, turning around and loping down the path. "When you have strength, you can claim ever greater strength, whenever you want."

"Unbelievable," I muttered under my breath. "My Digimon partner is psychotic."

Still, he was getting me out of this park, so he obviously wasn't the absolute worst. I shook m head, forced the memory of my destroyed backpack from my mind, and followed the Digimon back to my car. Well, now that I knew where he was, maybe I'd bring him another Cinnabon as thanks for saving me. Maybe the sweetness would make him less sour.

X X X

Lucas Gethen was a patient man. It was a prerequisite for running a government agency so deeply involved in an underground war of information and living, breathing weapons of mass destruction. Acting too soon, revealing your hand? A death sentence. Acting at the right moment with the right agent could very well bring victory, strengthening Gethen's position and the range of his power. And Gethen prided himself on always making that right decision at the right time, making the Digimon Center of American Real-world Defense a rival to even the mighty Hypnos in Japan. D-CARD and its sub-group D-CADD were on the verge of overtaking Hypnos, even. D-CARD needed the power of this Hazard Digimon either in their own hands or destroyed before it was discovered and taken in by someone else. Gethen needed eyes on the Hazard, and he wanted eyes on Matsuki. He needed them both.

Which is why his legendary patience was running quite thin. He was still in one of D-CARD's offsite offices in Denver, waiting for his agents to find a Digimon they should have caught days ago. If the creature wasn't found soon, he would grow... displeased. Being displeased Thankfully he didn't have to wait with Agent Zubel. He had been sent home after the day they had spent with Henry Wong.

The agent was far too enamored with the stories about the old Digimon Tamers, almost romanticizing their adventures. It was a common issue with the younger or less experienced agents. The ones that had seen the brutality of a fight between powerful Digimon tended to lose that outlook. Two Ultimates clashing inspired awe, but it made one realize that Digital Monsters were not heroic creatures sent to save humanity. They were beings that desired power, for whatever reasons they had, and would do nearly anything to get it. And the Tamers that the various Digital divisions connected to those Digimon were the same. They wanted to become the strongest.

Gethen tapped his finger on his desk while his other hand supported his chin with his index finger running along the side of his nose. He took a deep breath and continued to tap the desk, though the annoyed feeling had dulled, if only slightly. All he could do was wait for some sign of the Black Guilmon. It was inevitable that the Black Guilmon's... _Digidestined_ partner would use him in battle, whether to test his or her strength in battle or to follow some misguided belief that he or she had regarding their fate as a Digidestined. And since Digidestined did, somehow, have a tendency to congregate, that meant...

He lowered his hand from his face and pulled out his phone, dialing his best agent. "Agent Estevez," he said in greeting.

"Oh, Sir!"

"Starting in a few days, you'll be transferring to a school in Colorado when your mother finds she is being offered a better job by an old client," he told the young man on the other side of the line. Gethen leaned back in his desk chair and kicked his Burberry shoes atop the desk. "I have an important assignment for my most promising agent."

The other side of the line was quiet for a moment before a different voice started to speak. "Is that the G-Man? Tell him I want more chocolate!"

"Not right now!" the agent hissed at his partner before returning to the conversation. "Of course, Sir. May I ask about the assignment now, or would you prefer I wait for official briefing when I arrive?"

Gethen smiled at the professionalism. "The information is quite sensitive, Agent Estevez. I do not want to risk it falling into enemy hands," he explained simply. "However... I believe I have found Digidestined."

The line was silent for a moment. "Yes, Sir. I will report to the Denver office as soon as my cover is established."

The other voice groaned. "We have to meet the G-Man again? Fine... But he better bring chocolate!"

"Huckmon, stop it! I'm sorry, Sir."

"No, no. It's fine," Gethen said with a smirk. "Hard working Digimon deserve rewards. I believe your preferred type is 77% dark, yes?"

The Digimon started cheering. "Get a good night's rest. You'll likely be moving tomorrow. I expect you the day after at the latest," Gethen stated matter-of-factly before ending the call. He placed his phone on the table and smiled. Agent Estevez, while young, was his most impressive agent. And having him nearby when Black Guilmon's Digidestined inevitably made a mistake would mean the Hazard Digimon would soon be in the palm of Gethen's hand. And if the Dorumon was there, all the better. With those three Digidestined together, the next phase of D-CARD would no longer be simply a plan with groundwork being laid. It would be enacted.

Gethen took his feet off of the desk one after the other, then pushed up to his feet. He was in a good mood, and that called for some kind of celebration. He needed a good meal. He was thinking... Mediterranean. Yes, that sounded good. He checked his cufflinks and smoothed over his burgundy suit. "Take messages, I don't want to miss anything," he told the secretary as he exited. He tossed a glance at the man. "Oh, and before I forget... Send a message to the main office to force a captured pair of Veemon to Bio-emerge somewhere in the city. We need to smoke out the target."

"Of course, Sir," the young man replied. He then looked down and picked up the phone, dialing the main office.

Gethen turned away and grinned. Now that his patience had been renewed, he knew everything would be nearly perfect. And once his agents in the Digital World captured Takato Matsuki, everything _would_ be perfect. Yes, once this domino fell, the others would just be a matter of time. Gethen took his first step towards the future, grinning even wider.

X X X

I sighed as I finished up building my deck for real Digimon fights, and placed the ten cards on the table. I had at least a couple hundred other ones in the box to my left, but I figured that a few good cards covering my bases would be better than dragging around that box everywhere. And less of a reminder of... everything.

Which reminded me that I needed something to carry the deck around in; keeping them in my pocket would demolish my cards, which would be pretty bad if I needed one in a pinch. Unlike May, I preferred the real thing to swiping a screen. I pulled the box of cards onto my lap and began rooting around. "I know it's in there," I grumbled as I sifted through the cards I'd left out of my deck. A few good cards, but mostly based on giving Virus attacks to Data and Vaccines. Not worthwhile for helping Black Jerkmon in a fight. I finally pulled out the card case I was searching for and put it on the table next to the deck.

I was about to drop the cardboard box and shove it unceremoniously under my bed to be forgotten when something caught my eye. I reached in and pulled the card out, frowning. It was a simple card, with a single image covering the face. Just a red Digital Hazard over a clean black background. There was no card description or explanation of its effects. Just the image. I frowned and flipped the card over, seeing the same blue back of the card, then returned to the face in surprise. It was... just another alias card. But – it was – and now – I shook my head and tossed the card back into the box. Jeez, I must have been exhausted. Hiking with Black Guilmon, then the drive home, and everything else must have taken more out of me than I thought if I was seeing things like that.

I shoved the box under my bed and pulled out my 3D to check in on Black Guilmon. Thankfully, after we'd parted he'd headed right back out into the park, just far enough from any trails that I thought he was safe for now. Hopefully he could pretend to be calm – I know, I know, that's beyond wishful thinking – and just hide out long enough that those weird government suits hunting him down would just move on. And once that happened, we'd have a ton more freedom for hunting down any bad Digimon trying to come to the real world, and we could do it without getting discovered. At least, once I managed to come up with a good lie to tell Henry. After all, telling him I had a Digimon was out of the question. He wouldn't understand something like that; he'd probably think I was crazy!

 _Huh, I wonder just what Gethen is up to, looking for Black Guilmon and me. And who is the Agent Estevez guy he was talking to? Another Digidestined? But why aren't they called Tamers like Henry, Rika, and me? Well, at least Black Guilmon was a little nicer to Tasuke, even if it was only because of the Cinnamon Roll. Maybe he'll be nicer next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!_

 _Or maybe he'll be back to his normal Black Jerkmon self. I hope not!_


	4. Digivolution: Dorimon or Dorumon?

**AN: Hey, everyone! Happy New Year, sorry it's been a while. I've been busy. Christmas, New Year, family. Important things. I've also been toying with the next chapter in my Star Wars story. I'm unsure, but I think I am going to come back and finish that story. I hope you're all doing well.**

 **Now for responses:**

 **To smartalec121: Thanks. I love Dorimon, too. I was definitely trying to think of Terriermon when writing her. The scene with Henry pretending to talk to Terriermon was my favorite from last chapter, too. It was the first concept I had for that chapter, actually.**

 **To G3r1k: Oh, you're right. BlackGuilmon is a grump to the digicore.**

 _ **Episode 4: Digivolution: Dorimon or Dorumon?**_

"I always hate this part of the job, Commandramon," Agent Smith said as she walked through the nursery with her partner. She sighed and shifted the weight of her rifle to her other shoulder,. "Why do we get stuck with grunt work like this? Fetching Wild Ones and guarding a nursery no one can get into?"

"You'd know better than me, Ma'am," the digimon replied curtly. The military digimon, whose form was obviously the inspiration for the blue and black fatigues his partner wore, checked the sights on his own digital weapon, one of the sources on which which the digitally enhanced weaponry the agents of D-CARD carried were designed, and decided it was sufficiently ready. "We just do what we're told."

The woman didn't seem to care what what her partner had said. "Even when there is action, they let the thing through before we can even do anything!" Smith shouted to herself, startling a pack of Botamon that were nearby. The infant Digimon began to warble and cry behind them, only for a glare from Commandramon to scare them into silence. Her gaze wandered over to the patch of blackened and burned grass and destroyed cribs in the otherwise idyllic nursery field, and her eyes softened somewhat. "And who'd let something that did _that_ just walk free?"

Commandramon, having once been a Wild Digimon before his forced Taming, was less affected. "Strong Digimon load the data of weaker Digimon. It is the way of things," he growled out from between his sharp teeth. "Do not mistake evolution for savagery."

"You're such a peachy partner, Commandramon," Smith grunted dryly. She glanced up the path, frowning at the tall gray building they were approaching, a prison that demarcated the boundary of this artificially created Digital Field between the Real and Digital worlds. A prison that held Wild Ones that had yet to be either used as bait for new Digidestined or to lure out foreign agents, or those like Commandramon that would be forcefully bound to a human when it was decided they had enough potential to be worthwhile as more than worms on the line. It felt a little like conscripting a foreign citizen into their own war, but it was do that or let HYPNOS's team of Ultimates rampage across the US without any sort of resistance. It was unsavory, but Gethen always said that the ends justified the means. And so did Commandramon.

The Digimon stopped in his tracks and looked at her. "Does that mean I am incredibly talented in combat?"

"Eh... sure," she told the Digimon.

He turned back to the path they walked on. "Good."

Smith rolled her eyes and followed him down the path. Eventually, they came to a stop at the main doors of the building, and Agent Smith pulled her 3D from its pocket on her left forearm. She pushed it up against the scanner beside the door, and there was a beep. The light on the scanner flashed green, and Commandramon pulled the door open. "Cell 308... third floor, cell 8, cell 308," Agent Smith muttered to herself as she walked in beside her Digimon partner, doing her best to ignore the cries of rage or despair that came from within the various cells. Thankfully they weren't heading for any of the basement cells, where the Champion or – God forbid – the extremely rare Ultimate wild ones were incarcerated. She and Commandramon didn't have the Merge Rate for tagging those things for Bio-emergence.

Two Veemon, though, they could easily take. And once they reached the third floor's eighth cell, they both stopped to prepare. The Veemon inside were headbutting the opposite wall, falsely believing that it was the door. Much like in the children's show, they were not much for intelligence. Somehow significantly less so than in the show, actually. Smith thought it was because they kept headbutting walls. Commandramon just said they were 'hatched idiots.' Smith pulled out a small deck of cards and swiped them, giving Commandramon a data type, urning his rifle into a stun cannon, and shifting his grenades into flashbangs. The tiny soldier nodded gratefully at the woman, then turned back to the door. "All is good to go, Ma'am."

Smith nodded, then used her 3D to unlock the door before pulling it open. Commandramon jumped in, ignoring the confused and angry shouts of the Veemon as he raised his blaster. "DCD Bomb!" the cyborg dragon shouted, grabbing a grenade from its hip and tossing it forward. The blue pair yelped in surprise as the grenade clattered at their feet, then exploded in a burst of disruptive data. The Veemon screamed, stumbling backwards as the bright cloud of data burned into their eyes and created a loud screeching in their ears. In this stunned state, it was a simple matter for Commandramon to step forward with his gun. "M-16 Assassin!" Two shots rang out, green energy coursing through the air. The bolts collided with the Veemon, filling them with its energy before they fell unconscious to the ground. The green energy crackled across them for a few moments more.

"We work so well together," Agent Smith said as she walked through the door, puling out a pair of animal tags. She puled the tops off, revealing harpoon like needles, and jammed them into the Veemon's legs. The tags shimmered for a moment, then melded into the flesh of the Digimon. Smith stood up straight and crossed her arms, looking over satisfied at their work. "How are we never given bigger jobs?"

"What's the Merge rate say?" Commandramon asked simply, keeping his rifle aimed on the Veemon in case they woke up.

Smith glanced down at her arm. "Eh... 15 percent."

Commandramon sighed. "Then there's our answer, Ma'am."

Smith sighed and nodded. He was right. She grabbed the radio at her shoulder. "Okay, Sir. The Veemon are tagged for Bio-emergence in Denver, over," she said into the crackling communications machine.

The line was silent for a moment. "Good. Seal the room for Bio-Emergence." Then it went silent.

Agent Smith nodded and motioned for Commandramon to follow her out. They shut the door and it sealed shut behind them. "Well, I think it's time for lunch. Want some food?"

The room behind the door began to glow bright, the Digimon within being fully dragged across the dimensional barrier constructed almost two decades earlier, something that was almost only possible for Digimon let loose by one nation or another's digital organization. "Will there be banana pudding?"

"Sure, Commandramon. You can have mine," Smith said, patting the military helmet on his head. He shoved her hand away, an annoyed glare on his face. "Let's go."

 **X X X**

Lucas Gethen sat in his chair, running through reports. "HYPNOS has yet to mobilize. Good. It seems their agents in my agency have yet to report on the Hazard's bio-emergence," he muttered to himself as he leafed through the most recent one. Unfortunately, he noted, the Ultimates in HYPNOS had completed their mission in Russia and were returning home. That meant they would be on the board far sooner than he wanted; Gethen had only one human-Digimon pair with the Merge rate and skill to face one of those agents, but even Davis and Huckmon could not face all of them. He supposed he would have to hope they found the Hazard soon, and were able to keep its existence quiet long enough it could reach Ultimate before HYPNOS hunted it down. His plans required that Digimon, after all.

He put the report down and lifted another, glancing through the various missions going on in foreign nations. The assassination of Digimon agents, the capture of Digi-eggs in transport, and information on the comings and goings of agents loyal to groups ranging from China to the EU. Everyone that had a Digital agency was likely doing the same, right then. Trying their best to keep an eye on each other. But the biggest advantage that Gethen and D-CARD had was HYPNOS. The entire world's eyes were always trained on HYPNOS, its advancements, its agents. So the entire world would ignore the movements of a single agent within his own nation's borders, even if it was an American agent.

"Speak of the devil," Gethen said with a smirk as there came a knock on the door, accompanied by the sound of a young man arguing with and trying to quiet another voice. Gethen shut the report in his hand and placed it atop the others, obscuring a folder on the death of Agent Zubel. He leaned forward on his elbows. "Come in, Agent Estevez."

The door opened, and a white Digimon with a red cape bounded in on all fours. Its skin was made of a digital metal, segmented like armor. It claws, the horn on its face, and the tip of its tail were a different metal, dark black and sharp enough to cleave through almost any material. The Digimon's ears flopped around like a dogs, or at least as well as they could being coated in rigid metal, as he continued to bounce around the room. Eventually, he got close to the table and jumped up, landing atop it with a heavy thud and a screeching noise when his claws dragged through its face. The sharp teeth of the Digimon turned into a grin. "Chocolate!"

"You Digimon and your one track minds," Davis grumbled as he walked in after his partner, closing the door behind him. He was a young man with tanned brown skin. His hair was black and cropped short, leaving his serious brown eyes clear to survey everything. He was tall, just over six feet, with the muscular but wiry frame afforded one with D-CARD basic training. He wore a casual white button up shirt, the sleeves rolled up and open over a brown t-shirt. A crucifix hung from his neck, on a simple brown rope. His khaki jeans were crisp and clean, held up by a brown belt. His shoes were white sneakers with brown stripes and laces. He stood at attention. "Sorry, Director Gethen. I have been trying to tame my partner's willfulness since my last assignment."

"He's getting better," the director pointed out before reaching into his desk and pulling out the 77% dark chocolate the Digimon had been promised. He placed the pound of sweets on the desk. "That deserves positive reinforcement, I believe."

Huckmon cried out excitedly and basically dove into the chocolate, shredding the paper on it with surgical precision that seemed out of place with claws that large. He sat back on his haunches and picked the snack up to begin digging in with an inhuman amount of noise. "Huckmon, table manners," Davis admonished, earning an unapologetic grin from the Digimon. Davis sighed and turned his attention back to the head of D-CARD. "Sir, we're reporting for duty."

"Good. Is your mother settled in to the new home and job?" Gethen inquired. He gestured at the chair on the other side of the wooden desk, a silent command. Davis nodded and sat down, his back straight and his hands clasped in his lap. "I presume everything is in order."

"Yes, Sir," the young man said, a grateful smile on his face. "She is settling in well."

"Good to hear. Good to hear," Gethen said. He leaned back in his seat and changed the topic. "I trust that you read the files you were sent."

"Of course, Director," Davis responded.

"He read it the entire time on the plane," Huckmon grumbled. "He barely had time to joke with me!"

"Oh, how awful!" Gethen said with a gasp. He shook his head and looked over at Davis again. "What do you think of the information you chose over your Digimon?"

Davis' face turned red. Director Gethen had a habit of being... not closer, but certainly less formal with the Digimon partners of his agents than with his agents themselves. Davis took a breath to calm his embarrassment at his own partner's laughter. He clamped his hand shut over the Digimon's mouth to shut him up. "Director, I do have a few guesses as to the identity of the Digidestined I will be searching for," he explained over the muffled laughs. "I believe that one of them is certainly Henry Wong's niece, Mayumi Anderson, is in the correct age range to be chosen. Her familial ties to the Monster Makers is important as well."

"And the other?"

Davis rubbed his chin. "I believe that there a few more options. There are many individuals that would make sense. His ward, Tasuke... er... Joryawa. But what information you supplied me with did not make any more connections. If we knew how Tasuke came to be in Dr. Wong's care, I may be able to make a more definitive statement. The other members of the Anderson family are possible, though their ages lower the likelihood. I believe the most likely option, however, is that there is another individual not in those files you sent me. There have to be hundreds of potentials in Denver. Maybe thousands. Not every Digidestined is born with a legacy, Director."

Gethen nodded. "Present company does point towards that conclusion," he admitted with a smirk. "That still does not narrow the pool... Of the individual options, which do you think is the most likely?"

Davis shrugged. "I don't know, Sir. Probably the second oldest of the Anderson children."

Gethen nodded slowly. "I see. You will likely find out soon enough. A pair of Veemon have bio-emerged." He crossed his arms and leaned back to put his heels on the table. "Do not break cover or use Huckmon unless it is necessary to defend yourself from a threat, or to defend the Hazard from an enemy agent. Discretion is of the utmost importance, Agent Estevez." His eyes had lingered on Huckmon as he said the last words.

"What?" Huckmon asked through the hunk of chocolate in his mouth. "I can be discrete!" He shouted, jumping up and down quite loudly on the desk. "Like a ninja!" The wood was creaking, now.

"Huckmon, stop," Davis ordered. The Digimon turned to him and sighed, then stopped jumping. "Very well, Sir. Huckmon will remain hidden until I receive further orders, or until otherwise becomes necessary."

Gethen tented his hands. "Good," he stated. "Then dismissed."

Davis nodded and stood up, pulling on his Digimon's cape. Huckmon turned and leaped off the table, hitting the ground and running to his partner's side. "I'll report as soon as I learn anything, Director."

"Very good. Now... aren't you going to be late for school?"

 **X X X**

I groaned and let my head hit the desk of the computer lab. Late. Again. Even if it had only been by two minutes, Mr. Keane still looked like he was going to try to throttle me. "Barely in to the new year, and already late more than on time, Mr. Joryawa?" he had asked as I crept in, hoping he wasn't in the room yet.

I turned to glare at May when she sighed, a noise of utter disappointment. "Henry made me clean the counters this morning. I would have been on time if -"

"But would you really?" May asked dryly.

"... No," I sighed. "I probably would have found a way to be late."

May nodded, then turned back to listen to Keane introducing the new student. It was some hispanic kid named Davis. Didn't seem too interesting, certainly not more than the questions she had for me. "So, how was your meeting with our new best friend last night?" she whispered to me, getting in close. "And where's your backpack?"

I groaned. "He ate it while looking for a Cinnabon I got him," I groaned under my breath. "Just tore it off my back and shredded it."

May chuckled. "Well, Taj, all Digimon are addicted to food, and one food above all others. Mine is addicted to licorice." She shook her head. "Yours wants to eat Digimon and Cinnabon."

I groaned and rested my chin in the crook of my elbow. "I got him to agree to not eat Dory," I explained, but I knew that was... not much of a step forward. He still wanted to, after all. "For now."

"How big of him," she muttered dryly. "I'm glad he's living in some cave, or tree, or whatever. He's a nasty little troll."

I opened my mouth to defend BlackGuilmon, but found no words came and I let it shut. He was, in fact, a nasty little troll. But he was my Digimon. "Come on, maybe he just needs time," I supplied lamely. Yeah, she didn't even buy that I believed that. "Look, it's just going to be hard work. We can do that, right?"

"Do we have to?" May wondered.

"What are you two talking about?" I nearly jumped out of my chair as Davis sat down on the other side of May, inquisitive eyes glancing between the both of us. He locked gazes with May. "Secrets?"

I leaned forward. "Digimon," I said, telling the truth for a moment before changing into a lie. "I say the best one is Omnimon Zwart. She prefers Alphamon. Care to weigh in?"

He shrugged. "I like Gankoomon." He chuckled. "We all chose Royal Knights." His gaze turned to me. "Kind of."

I shrugged back. "Where you from, Davis?"

"If you'd listened to my introduction, you'd already know," he pointed out, a lopsided grin aimed at the both of us.

May nodded. "Fair. Humor us." Her fingers tapped against her cheek.

"Get to work, you three." Mr. Keane walked up behind us. "This is class, not social hour."

"Of course, Mr. Keane," Davis said with a nod before turning and dutifully starting the class assignment, sitting straight up at attention.

Keane turned towards me and May. "You too."

May and I shared a glance. "Sure," I said before the both of us began to work. Something felt weird about that Davis guy, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I slouched and focused on my work instead. I could tell from the glance that May tossed my way that she agreed. We didn't know how right we were.

 **X X X**

BlackGuilmon huffed and snorted as he lay in the shade, trying his best to ignore the rumbling feeling running from his stomach. He had not eaten anything other than a few rabbits all day, and he was learning that was not nearly enough for a newly bio-emerged Digimon. Oh, what he wouldn't give for a Kin-nae-bon. Or a Digimon with fresh data ready to be loaded. Both made his mouth water to the point the dirt was turning to mud and sticking to his chin. And then he thought about having both, and that just made the whole situation worse. "I should have just gone with Tasuke," he grumbled as his stomach rumbled again. "All the Kin-nae-bons I could eat..."

He shot up and shook his head as he realized what he had said. The hunger was getting to him. Living with Tasuke sounded like torture. Just constant 'Digimon' this, 'friendship' that. The nonsense that stupid show had burned into Tasuke's brain would have inevitably resulted in BlackGuilmon murdering Tasuke or, worse, growing soft. No, this was better. Absence makes the digi-core grow fonder, after all.

BlackGuilmon turned and began to look for another rabbit to eat. He shook his feet for a moment, then began to sprint through the park, remaining under cover of trees for the time being. With those humans chasing him, he didn't want to take any chances being seen. Not unless something more pressing came to his attention, like –

He slid to a stop and his head shot to the left. That smell. It was coming from near Tasuke's smell. A Digimon of some kind, and not the tiny purple one. There were two – no, three he didn't recognize. BlackGuilmon growled and turned his body towards the scents. This would be fun. He took off again, sprinting at full speed out of the trees and across the grass. Soon enough, the data of both of those Digimon would belong to him. BlackGuilmon's teeth bared in a grin as he picked up the pace. The sooner the better, after all.

 **X X X**

I groaned as I finally slammed my locker shut. I'd been late so much already that I got an after school detention. Henry was... not going to be happy. May had decided to stick around and work, probably hoping to talk about BlackGuilmon without anyone trying to eavesdrop on us. I shouldered my backpack and glared over at the window. That new kid... Something was really off with him, and I didn't know what. I shrugged and pulled out my 3D to check the time. Yep. Three missed calls from Henry. Well, I could deal with that when I got back home.

I spun around, heart pounding. What was that noise? Scurrying feet and laughter? I gripped my 3D tighter and brought it up to me. There was an old notification I hadn't seen before. I pulled the notification tab down and clicked on the symbol, the hazard. The screen brightened and the hazard appeared, red in the center of a bright white. Then it spun around, and the resulting circle split in two, dragging a new window open in the screen. "Wild Digimon nearby," it said. A blueand white creature appeared, fists clenched. It had two long ears coming out of its head and a yellow 'V' between its eyes. A horn jutted out above its sharp toothed grin, and its powerful legs were tipped with claws. "Veemon. A Dragon Digimon from the birth of the Digital World, and as such is capable of Armor Digivolution. It uses its Vee Headbutt and Boom Boom Punch attacks when its close to its enemies in order to clobber them into submission. A rookie with higher than normal power."

I stared at the screen as it slowly shifted, becoming a compass laid over the hazard. This... was... awesome! I sprinted after the compass, happy for the empty halls. I ran into a door and yelped, stumbling back. I shook my head – okay, gotta pay attention to where I'm going. I rushed forward again, shoving open the door at the end of the hallway and running through.

I shot past somebody. "Taj? Taj, what are you –?"

"DIGIMON!" the purple fuzzball in her arms was hissing, thrashing about.

"Notimegottago!" I shouted at May, sprinting into the gym and grinning. There were two Veemon, bouncing around and destroying things. They were throwing chairs at each other, headbutting the bleachers, and acting crazy. "Okay... those are Veemon."

"Hey, Veemon, look! A human!" one of them shouted as he finally noticed me. He turned and began jumping up and down. "Lookie!"

The other one turned. "You're right, Veemon! It _is_ a human!"

I laughed nervously. "Hello!" I said, giving them a wave and a smile.

"Just like the ones that tortured us."

My smile vanished. "Uh... Uh oh."

"Vee Headbutt!" One of them screamed before he leaped towards me, head first.

"PYRO GRENADE!" The green ball of flame slammed into the side of the Veemon, sending it flying and the explosion singing my eyebrows. The Veemon screamed as it crashed through the bleachers and tumbled to a stop on the ground. BlackGuilmon walked up, the door swinging shut behind him. "I was just getting hungry for some snacks..."

"Hey, BlackGuilmon!" I shouted, giving him a wave.

His eyes turned towards me and a disgusted glare flashed across his features. "Can I eat these ones?" he asked dryly.

I didn't get a chance to answer, however, as the other Veemon had leaped into action, landing a powerful headbutt to BlackGuilmon's side. The dinosaur was sent sideways, rolling across the ground. "Dumb pet! You're going to pay for that!" the other Veemon said as it landed on its feet, then charged BlackGuilmon, who had just struggled to his feet.

BlackGuilmon didn't bother responding, instead turning and snarling at the Veemon charging him. He swiped at the creature with his claws, sending it off course and colliding with the wall. However, just as BlackGuilmon had done that, the other Veemon recovered and landed another headbutt to BlackGuilmon's haunches. He wasn't going to last long fighting both of them alone. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a card. I raised it and drew it through the 3D's card reader. I hoped this worked. "Digi-modify! WarGreymon's Brave Shield activate!"

The air beside BlackGuilmon congealed for a moment, green lines forming in the air and then filling with matter. A fully formed Brave Shield, complete with the crest of courage, crashed into the ground. The Veemon yelped as its skull hit the shield and it bounced off, clutching at its forehead. The shield then began to tip over, forcing BlackGuilmon to hold it up or have it fall on top of him. "Brilliant plan, Tasuke! Now I have a hunk of metal I can't lug around!" he snarled at me. He jumped away from the shield as the other Veemon lunged. The Veemon's fists still hit him, and he stumbled to the side with a shout of pain. The shield tipped over and slammed into the wood, splintering the floor. The pair of Veemon charged BlackGuilmon again.

"Okay, that didn't work... Er..." I pulled my cards out again. "No. No. No..." BlackGuilmon swatted one of the Veemon away while the other jumped on his back and began to yank on his wing shaped ears. "Last thing I need is a Magna Blast blowing up the gym." BlackGuilmon managed to whip the Veemon over his head and he sprinted right for the other Veemon near the wall. The Veemon yelped and jumped to the side, letting BlackGuilmon slam the Veemon attacking him into the wall. The Veemon shrieked and let go of BlackGuilmon, who raised his now glowing claws to carve it into pieces. The other Veemon jumped in and slammed into his shoulder. The attack went wide and carved through the cement wall instead. Oh, I was not paying for this. "Oh, here! Digi-modify! Energy activate!"

BlackGuilmon glowed for a moment, his wounds stitching shut as an influx of data healed him. "Finally, a good idea from you," he growled at me before he raised his head slightly. "Pyro Grenade!" The green fireball flew forward, exploding against the ground and sending one Veemon flying. The other charged forward and slammed his head into BlackGuilmon's knee. The dinosaur roared in pain and hit the ground, letting the Veemon slam his fists into BlackGuilmon's face. This was bad.

"BlackGuilmon!" I shouted, rushing forward. I wasn't going to let him die, he was... a jerk. A homicidal jerk. A – look, I'm not going to list reasons I shouldn't have done it, because I was running to help him anyways. I grabbed hold of one of the Veemon. "Stop hurting him!"

The Veemon's response was to clobber my gut with his fist. I rolled across the gym floor, groaning in pain. "We'll get you next, human!"

Yeah, this was bad.

I pulled out my cards. One of them had to do something that could get us out of this, I just had to figure out which one

 **X X X**

"NOTIMEGOTTAGO!"

May groaned and squeezed her furball tighter to keep her from charging after Taj. "May, there are Digimoooooon!" Dorimon whined in her human partner's arms. "I wanna seeeee!"

May turned the Digimon around so she could look her in the eyes. "Dorimon, no," she said, all the authority of an oldest child firm in her voice. "I've told you a thousand times, it's too dangerous. We'll get discovered!"

"But what about Dummy?" she asked of Taj. "What if he and Jerkmon can't handle it?"

May rolled her eyes. She pulled her backpack off and began the struggle of stuffing the Digimon inside. "It's one Veemon. I think those two dummies could handle that!" She grunted as she dropped to her knees and shoved hard against her partner's face. "Besides, you won't be any help all tiny like that!"

"Maaaay!" Dorimon whined again, shoving her way out of the backpack. May jumped in her path before she could bolt for the gym but, much to the teenager's surprise, Dorimon just sat down. "Can we just watch? Please?"

May blinked once, then sighed. "Fine, but only for a minute. And we run if anything bad happens, got it? No complaints! You _listen_."

Dorimon glanced at the ground, then back up. "Fine," she mumbled. She took a few steps forward, then jumped into May's arms. "And you're wrong."

May gave the Digimon a threatening glare.

"What? I was just going to say it's _two_ Veemon, not one. And... something else."

May's eyes widened and she scrambled to her feet, forgetting her backpack and sprinting for the gym door. Two Veemon? The Digimon partners on the show were stronger than your average Digimon, though whether that was because they were Digidestined or because of their species she wasn't sure. She didn't want to risk it either way. She charged through the door and froze. "TAJ!"

 **X X X**

None of the cards were super useful right now. Alias would work... if BlackGuilmon wasn't surrounded. Energy, if he wasn't constantly being attacked. The shield had already been used, and it made him immobile given its size. Apparently the card game and this were really different. This meant, of course, that I had to take... stupid measures. I tackled a Veemon.

Being a Digimon, a Veemon is significantly stronger than I am. Getting rid of it gave BlackGuilmon an opportunity to break out and face the other Veemon one on one. Unfortunately, this one was going to kill me way before BlackGuilmon killed his. The Veemon was on top of me now, glaring at me with all the hatred it could muster. "Fine, human. I'll beat you first!"

"TAJ!"

My 3D went wild in my hand, vibrating and ringing in my hand, shining with a bright purple light. Echoing, I was sure, what was happening to the other 3D in the room. I looked over at the source of the voice, to May and Dorimon. The purple fuzzball leaped out of her arms, soaring through the air. Its body began to glow with a bright light, the air around it forming purple lines in the shape of an egg, which quickly solidified into white and purple stripes. "Dorimon digivolve to..." The egg shattered, and a whole new Digimon came out. It landed on its two feet let out a roar, stretching its new arms. "Dorumon!"

Dorumon was about the same size as BlackGuilmon. She had purple fur running along her body, stopping at the tip of the snout, her claws, her feet, and the tip of her tail. There, the fur was white, with jagged zigzags forming the separation point. It had two, tiny black wings sprouting from its back and stripes of black down the back of its triangular ears. A jagged mane extended out from her cheeks, outlining its sharp maw. There was a triangular, red gem in the center of her forehead, embedded in some kind of black metal case. The yellow eyes were the same as ever, glinting with intelligence. She grinned at the Veemon standing on my chest, then opened her mouth wide. "Metal Cannon!" Her head reared back, then shot forward and out of her mouth flew a metal sphere the size of a human head. It flew forward like a bullet and slammed into the side of the Veemon on my chest. The blue Digimon was immediately thrown away by the cannonball that had just hit it, sending it tumbling head over heels to the ground.

Dorumon took a step forward as all eyes turned to her. She cracked her neck and stretched, her tail and claws arching then coming back to normal. "Finally! I had forgotten what it felt like to be big!" Dorumon shouted, her voice the same as ever. She turned and grinned at my dumbfounded stare. "Dummy!" Then BlackGuilmon. Her face soured. "BlackJerkmon..."

BlackGuilmon growled and snarled. "From a snack to a meal," he hissed.

She narrowed her eyes and looked back at me. "I like his change in attitude," she muttered dryly. Then she took off towards me at a sprint. I scrambled out of her path, narrowly avoiding her claws as they rushed past and the fight began again. I moved towards May, the both of us watching the fight with awe. Dorumon crashed into the stunned Veemon teeth first, wrapping her fangs around its throat. She spun and tossed the creature into the air. She tossed her head back again and fired another metal sphere. "Metal Cannon!" The steel orb flew high and crashed into the Veemon. The Digimon yelped in pain and spiraled to the ground, its data fracturing and glitching as it began to fall apart. Dorumon walked over and glared at the Digimon as it broke apart completely, blue data floating away. Her head cocked to the side, as if she was considering something, then she turned away and let the data disappear completely.

Meanwhile, BlackGuilmon was having a much easier time against a single Veemon. He swung with his claws, the attack raking the ground as the Veemon had to jump out of the way. BlackGuilmon spun around as the Veemon jumped, slamming his tail into the blue Digimon. The Veemon crashed hard into the ground and bounced. "This is payback," BlackGuilmon growled as he finished his spin, claws glowing white. "Rock Crusher!" The claws came down and slammed into the Veemon, impaling it on one claw. The Veemon destabilized instantly, screaming as it exploded into blue data that quickly turned red and flooded into BlackGuilmon.

He stood taller as the last of the data vanished, and turned to glare at Dorumon. She in turn glared at him. BlackGuilmon eventually sighed and took a step back. "Tasuke requested I not attack you or your human," he said with a heavily affected sigh. He turned towards the door leaving the building and slammed his claws into it, opening an exit for him. "For now... Goodbye, Tasuke. Bring me more Kin-nae-bon." He _harrumph-_ ed and left the building, sprinting away.

Dorumon watched him go for a moment, until her body flashed and she vanished, replaced with a small purple and white fuzzball. Dorimon groaned as she looked at her own body. "Great, this again..."

 **X X X**

Davis rushed towards his new school, the pedal of his car flat against the floor. He had to find out what was there, because the 3D only responded like it was if another 3D was facilitating Digivolution. That meant one of his targets was at the school. When he pulled up and saw the massive fog cloud enveloping the building, he knew he was right. "The Veemon must have come here," he growled to himself, throwing the door open and getting out of the now parked car.

"Duh. They followed my scent and the other Digimon's," Huckmon said, appearing out of thin air to land atop the car with a thud. "I've been trying to keep an eye out, but if I get inside the field, the Digimon you're looking for will smell me. And come after me."

"Good idea staying out here, then," Davis said, scratching his partner behind the ears. "Then you should get hidden for now. I'll move in and see if I can determine -" Davis stopped speaking as the fog, the Digital Field, began to slowly vanish. "Disappear, I will approach now."

Huckmon nodded. "You're the boss, Davis. Oh! Let's go celebrate once you find out who it is! We can head to a bike park, right?" Davis glared at the Digimon. "Okay, okay... bike park it is." Then Huckmon jumped into the air, disappearing into thin air.

"Digimon," Davis grumbled rubbing the bridge of his nose before walking towards the school. Running would only draw attention. He crossed to the curb and made his way to the front door, just as it flew open and a pair of people sprinted past, one holding... Dorimon. The Dorumon trainer. He glanced at the faces without turning. May Anderson, niece of Henry Wong, was holding the Dorimon. No surprise there. She was his top suspect for one of the Digidestined. And that meant the other face was Tasuke Joryawa. Not completely surprising. Yet... there was no other Digimon. He turned his attention from them and went through the door. They were too busy talking to acknowledge him.

Davis continued walkinguntil he turned a corner and came to a stop. "Huckmon."

The Digimon appeared beside him, staring up at his partner. "What's up?"

"Do you smell any Digimon or humans here?" Davis asked, carefully examining their surroundings.

Huckmon paused and sniffed the air. "Hm... two dead Digimon, two alive. Both of those left. Can't tell on humans. This place reeks of you guys. There could be a dozen here and I couldn't tell," Huckmon explained. He glanced back at Davis. "Wish I could help, but I can't say for sure if that Tasuke guy you saw coming out of here is the other guy you're looking for."

Davis rubbed his chin. "Then we have no evidence it's him, and I can't ask to see his phone to check if it's a 3D. Not without breaking cover," he muttered to himself. He sighed and leaned against the wall. Then he shut his eyes to think. A plan. He was coming up with a plan. "The most logical answer now is that Tasuke is the other Digidestined. He was here. He obviously knows about Dorimon and Anderson." He turned to Huckmon.

The Digimon groaned. "I'm... not going to like this, huh?"

"We're kidnapping her, and we're telling him."

Huckmon groaned again. "I was right. I don't like that."

Davis sighed. "Sorry, Huckmon. It's the way it has to be," he explained, scratching him behind the ears again. Davis took out his 3D and opened the texting feature. He tapped on the Director's name. "First Digidestined found," he typed. "Mayumi Anderson. Partner Dorumon, taking form of Dorimon. Other Digidestined unclear. Current hypothesis is Tasuke Joryawa. Partner unseen. Requesting permission to acquire first Digidestined & partner, then use as bait for second." He hit send.

"Great," Huckmon sighed. "So... no bike park?"

 _WHAT? This Davis guy is going to kidnap May? I'm sure that's not going to go over well with Henry or Tasuke. But if Tasuke takes after me at all, he won't tell Henry about any of it until he vanishes into the Digital World. Well, hopefully he's smarter than me._

 _Anyways, I guess we'll only find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


	5. Cat's Outta the Bag: Dorumon vs Huckmon!

**AN: Hey everybody! Hope you're having a good week!**

 **Now, for responses.**

 **To smartalec121: Okay, so when it comes to names, I'm very much a creature of first impressions. Ninety percent of the time, the first name I heard for Digimon was the American version – which is why we have Matsuki, Henry, Rika, Omnimon, etc as opposed to Matsuda, Jenrya, Ruki, Omegamon, etc. However, for some reason the very first time I heard Huckmon's name, I heard the Japanese localization of Huckmon, not the American version of Hackmon. So it's the one that's sticking. I'm glad you liked the fight with the Veemon, especially BlackGuilmon's criticism of Tasuke. If a Digidestined was bad at their job, don't you think their Digimon would put in constructive criticism. Or in BlackGuilmon's case, non-constructive criticism?**

 **To G3r1k: Like Father like Son.**

 _ **Episode 5: Cat's Outta the Bag: Dorumon vs Huckmon!**_

May and I burst into her home around 5:30, ignoring the questioning calls of her mom and dad as we raced upstairs and into her room. The door slammed shut behind us and we panted heavily, both of us staring at the tiny furball that had jumped out of her arms and onto the bed. Dorimon waddled around the bed, looking increasingly discontent, before sitting down and glaring back. "I got to be Dorumon again for all of five minutes," she grumbled up at her partner. "Five minutes, and now I'm stuck like this. Probably forever." She turned to glare at me. "Thanks, Dummy!"

"How's this my fault?" I asked indignantly before sinking tiredly into my seat. "I was the one that nearly got killed!"

"Exactly!" Dorimon responded in exasperation. "I get a taste of what I want, and it's torn away all because of you. Next time, make sure I at least get to stay big for an hour!"

I blinked dryly at May, who simply shrugged and laughed. "Oh, I'll make sure that I never get in trouble again," I told the tiny purple Digimon. "So you _never Digivolve again!"_

Dorimon stared at me, aghast, while May began laughing harder. We stopped suddenly as the door handle turned and popped open. Jaarin Anderson glared at the two of us. "You weren't listening, Mayumi. You can't just run by without listening to your parents."

We glanced at one another, then at Dorimon. "Why are you so late, Dear?" Mrs. Anderson wondered, leaning against the doorway and glaring at her daughter. Her eyes flicked to me. "Could it have something to do with why my younger brother has called me about twelve times in the past hour, wondering where _you_ are?"

I laughed nervously. "Yeah... May was just waiting for me," I supplied sheepishly. "I was late again and got detention."

Mrs. Anderson sighed and shook her head. "You couldn't be more like your father if you tried, sometimes," she told me as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. I forced the words to run over me without any effect, but it still hit harder than I wanted. Mrs. Anderson sighed and shrugged. "Well, I think you should head home my husband and I leave, Tasuke. We have a no boys when we're not home policy and, you're still a boy." Well, that was a confusing blow to the old ego. "Besides, I'm sure Henry will want to talk with you about that."

I groaned out from behind my teeth and nodded at May's mom, who continued to keep her steady gaze on me and nodded again. "Well, then I suppose you have fifteen minutes. And May, remember to be nice when you're watching your brothers and sister tonight."

May nodded with a smile as her mom left the room and shut the door, though it quickly turned to a grimace. "Ugh, none of them listen to me," she groaned, leaning back in her chair.

"Aw, they aren't so bad," Dorimon said, jumping up. "They love it when I chase them!" She frowned. "They'd love it more if I was Dorumon..."

"Aaaand, we're back," I muttered, with a chuckle.

"Dorimon, I've had enough of this. That you Digivolved at all was – well, I don't want to call it a mistake," May growled, pointing at me. "I mean, we saved you, but – Jesus, this sounds bad."

I snorted. "A little," I agreed, smirking. I gestured at myself. "I mean, you're almost making it sound like you're regretting saving my life. What a great friend."

May glared at me then at Dorimon when she started to laugh. "Oh, come on, May! Dummy's being a _little_ funny."

"Digivolving is going to bring... whoever is chasing you down on us," she told Dorimon, putting her hands on the sides of the Digimon's face – or, I guess, whole body – to force eye contact. She then turned to me, violet eyes serious. "All of us."

"I think BlackJerkmon can take care of himself," I responded simply. "It was hard enough finding him with a compass. If they're looking for him without one, I think he'll be fine."

"I don't know. These humans are pretty scary," Dorimon said, taking on the worried look of her partner. "I mean, I barely escaped the nursery before they could capture me."

I raised an eyebrow. "The nursery?"

She frowned. "Yeah. Where the eggs were born."

"You've never seen the rest of the Digital World?" I inquired.

May shook her head. "From how she's described it, they were farming Digi-eggs. Not having a compass isn't going to stop them, Taj," she explained firmly. She picked up Dorimon and clutched her close. "I think they _have_ Digimon, so if they decide to come here they can sniff us out in no time."

"Okay, yeah. That's... scary," I agreed. It was, too. Some shady organization with Digimon wanted to hunt our Digimon down? On the other hand, it sounded like the show and _that_ had the opposite effect to what May wanted. I was excited. "But we're Digidestined. We can't just let Digimon attack people. And when these people come after us, we'll stop them too. Together."

"This isn't a TV show, Taj," May said, exasperated. She began to pet Dorimon, a frantic movement more for herself than the Digimon. "You aren't Tai. He's not Agumon. You don't even know how to make him Digivolve! There's no... no Data Squad, or Legendary Warriors. There's just the three of us, BlackJerkmon, and an army chasing us."

I opened my mouth to reply, but didn't have any words for a moment. "Taj, I'm not getting in another fight. I can't risk Dorimon like that, so if you want to try for this Digidestined fantasy, you're doing it without me."

"Okay. I won't take any more stupid risks. I'll get better at all of this, and you won't ever have to risk Dorimon again," I told her, scooting my chair over and putting my hand on top of hers, still buried in Dorimon's fur. "The ugly fuzzball will stay an ugly fuzzball."

May chuckled and nodded. "She's adorable," she retorted over Dorimon's annoyed cursing at me for calling her ugly.

I grinned at that. "It'll be okay, trust me."

Her smile became thin. "Fine."

Fine. Jeez, this was bad. I'd known May for a long time, and I'd learned something very important in that time. KayKay – everything was fine. Fine? Not fine. "It really will, May," I reaffirmed, moving my hand up to her shoulder. "Just keep her hidden and I'll... I'll get BlackGuilmon to lay low. Somehow. I'm sure I have some card that can turn him invisible, somewhere."

May sighed and let Dorimon go, then put her arms around me in a tight hug. "Just for a little while, okay?" she asked, placing her chin on my shoulder.

I sighed and hugged her back. " _KayKay_ ," I replied, earning a tired laugh as she ended the hug. I sighed and covered my face with my hands. "Well, I guess I should go get yelled at by Henry."

"Well, you _did_ get detention," she pointed out, smiling now.

"Just wait till they find out about the destroyed gym!" Dorimon shouted excitedly. "I bet they'll all stop caring once they see that."

I palled. "Or... they'll blame him," May explained to Dorimon.

"Oh..." the Digimon shrugged. "Oh, well. You win some you lose some."

Great. Just great.

 **X X X**

I carefully poked my head through the front door before entering. Momentai looked up from where he'd been sleeping and cocked his head to the side. No Henry, though. Maybe he was in the basement, working on his 'project' he never let me see. I tip toed through the door, feeling triumphant. Maybe I could get through this without – "Tasuke Jenrya Joryawa." I froze and slowly turned my gaze towards Henry, who had slowly moved out from behind a corner in the kitchen. His eyes were molten steel, burning a hole in my forehead. "Where do you think you're going." Oh, good. That was just him telling me to sit down. So I did as commanded, and carefully lowered myself into a barstool. Until he said speak... it was probably a good idea to not speak.

He moved to the other side of the kitchen bar and glared at me from over the stove. I glanced to the left, then the right. Up and down. Anywhere to avoid Henry's angry, disappointed glare. And he wasn't saying anything. _Anything_. It was completely silent in that room, the only noise the pounding of my heart in my ears. He hadn't been this angry with me since I'd run away from home when I was seven to prove Digimon were real. Which, in hindsight, seemed kind of ironic. They just came to me, out of the blue.

"What the hell were you thinking," Henry hissed. I remained silent, until he slammed his fists on the countertop. "Dammit, Tasuke, answer me!"

"I- About what? I was just late to school, so they gave me detention."

"But you didn't tell me. I had to find out after I called the school when you weren't home when I got home," he growled, cowing whatever bravery I had again. He shook his head. "Tasuke, you're too much like your father to not run late every time you go to school. I know you hate that comparison, but it's true. Your father couldn't be on time to school when he was your age if his life had depended on it. And sometimes, you act just like him. In this way, always just like him. But I'm not angry you were late again, or that you got detention. You do well enough in school, you're a good kid, usually. But trying to hide it? What the hell were you doing that you didn't text me or call me that you had detention?"

"I... just forgot, okay?" I snapped, immediately regretting it. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to – to snap. I just..."

Henry sighed and buried his face in his hands. "Uncle Henry, don't. I'm sorry that I forgot, okay? It was just an accident, it wasn't on purpose, okay? I'll try to text you if anything happens again." I rubbed my cheek and waited for him to reply. "Henry, say something?"

He looked up from between his fingers. "Tasuke, I know that you have been though so much," he began sadly. "No one knows that better than I do. You went through something that no child should have to go through." He stood up a bit more and rested his chin on his clasped fists. "Twelve years without your parents is too long for a kid, I know. I'm sorry."

"It isn't your fault they aren't here, Henry," I sighed. I tapped the counter with my hand. "You gave me everything. All of this. A home, a family. You've been here this entire time."

He raised one hand. "I know the anniversary is next week. It's always a hard time on you. You remember it more, you... But the mark of someone isn't what they do when they're happy. It's what they do when all they want to do is wrong. I believe you when you say this was an accident, but Tasuke, a little part of you wanted to act out. To hide this."

I looked towards the ground. He... was wrong. Kind of. Usually I did act out around this time of year. One time, I snuck out and didn't answer any of Henry's calls. As much as I love Henry, it felt... nice, I guess, to be the one ignoring than the one ignored. This time, it really wasn't that. I wasn't trying to be mean to Henry or to make him mad for attention, not on purpose at least. BlackGuilmon was drawing most of my attention now. He'd arrived at the perfect time for all of this to distract me from my parents absence. But I couldn't tell Henry that. Best case scenario, he'd forbid me from fighting Digimon. Worst case, he'd turn in BlackGuilmon. "You're right," I lied, letting the guilt at lying be mistaken for guilt for everything else. "I... I just kept putting it off until I forgot."

"Why would you lie to me about that?" he asked, his voice firm but not yet angry.

I shook my head, trying to shake off a pressure in my chest. "I don't want to disappoint you, Henry. You don't _have_ to take care of me, and I just -" I froze as I realized that I was crying. I sniffled and the words kept coming out; I wasn't in control anymore. "I already disappointed two parents away, and I don't – I don't want... I didn't want to make you leave."

His eyes widened and he rushed around the counter, grabbing hold of me in a tight hug. "Tasuke," he whispered, rubbing the back of my head as he let me cry into his shoulder. "I would never leave you. Ever." He listened to me sob into his shoulder as I reached up and hugged him back. "Tasuke, your parents didn't abandon you because they were disappointed. They love you more than anything, but they needed to do something important. And even when they come back, I'm not leaving. You're my son now, too."

My crying slowly stopped, but I didn't stop hugging Henry. "I'm sorry, Henry," I muttered hoarsely.

"I know," he said before slowly letting go of me. "But there still have to be consequences. I'll be holding on to your phone when you're at home. And I want you heading home after school instead of going with May."

 _Shit_. Well, I couldn't really argue. Apparently I actually did feel guilty, and Henry was being pretty easygoing in his punishment. On the other hand, he'd see my Digivice. "Okay, but just... be careful with it. May was able to get me one of the phones she has," I told him before reaching in to my pocket and pulling it out.

He raised his eyebrow and took the 3D from me, turning it over. Recognition flashed across his face. "I chose a Digimon logo. The -"

"Digital Hazard, I know. I did watch Digimon before you were even born, you know," he said calmly. He flashed me a grin. "It's nice to see you're putting an interest in it again." He returned his gaze to the image on the back of the phone, then shrugged. "You thanked May, right?"

I glanced at the counter for a brief second. "Something like that."

Henry glared at me, unamused, then put the phone down. "Take Momentai out and then do your homework. I'll get some food ready. It'll be Gyudon."

I nodded and whistled at Momentai to follow me out of the front door. May and BlackGuilmon weren't going to be happy about me losing my Digivice. And her ugly digidog was never going to let me hear the end of it. Momentai plodded along beside me, oblivious to the fact that a Digidestined had handed over one of the most powerful tools in the entire world to an AI developer from Japan. This is how apocalypse movies started. "And Tasuke... I really like the Hazard, too. It was one of my favorite growing up; reminds me of your dad."

 **X X X**

"I cannot believe you, Taj," May groaned, glaring at me the exact same way her uncle had last night. She stabbed one of the ham chunks in her lunch and brought it up to eat. "You really just handed over your 3D to Uncle Henry?"

I was thankful we were alone at our table. We didn't need people hearing the word 'Digivice,' especially not after school had been canceled the past two days because of "obscene destruction of school property by a student." Even the dumbest of the other students would be able to put two and two together with enough obvious evidence. "Believe me, it's not something I'm happy about," I told her, ignoring her angry chewing. "Whenever I'm at home, I'm constantly worried that it's going to go off about a Digimon and the whole thing is going to blow up in my face."

"Dory's never going to let you hear the end of this," she pointed out, a statement that made me quickly lose my appetite. I dropped my plastic fork and glared at her as she took another bite.

"I _know_ ," I hissed. "That was the first thing to cross my mind."

"As long as you ' _know_ ,'" May mocked. She smirked at my anger and waved her fork at me. "Oh, don't give me that face, Taj. You're only getting what you deserve. Probably less than what you deserve, really."

"Okay, that's... jerk," I mumbled.

"And what are you two talking about now?" I jerked to the side and glared at the newcomer. Davis had just marched up to sit with us out of nowhere. There goes trying to talk about Digimon. His eyes turned towards May. "Digimon?"

"No, I'm making fun of him for getting grounded," she said without missing a beat. She took another bite and smirked at me.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Thanks. I really like having you reveal my personal life to total strangers, you know?"

"Hey, that's not fair. We spoke in Computer Science before," Davis protested as he pulled a sandwich out of a brown paper bag. He frowned to himself. " _O tal vez estoy empezar la casa por el tejado..._ " He glanced back up at me as if he had just remembered I was there. "Well, perhaps we aren't friends, but we are not _total_ strangers. Omnimon Zwart, right?"

It took me a half a second to understand what he meant. "Well, I guess you know one thing about us," I remarked coolly.

Davis took another bite of his sandwich and shrugged. "Well, the key to making friends is learning about each other. Anyone have any pets?"

"A terrier named Momentai," I said, glaring, bored, at him.

May glanced at me out of the corner of her eye then looked over at Davis. "A mutt named Dory," she explained, somewhat confused. She cocked her head tot he side and raised an eyebrow. "Uh... why are you so interested in us?"

Davis stopped right before taking another bite, then lowered the sandwich. He seemed unsure of how to answer for a moment. Then: "We sit next to each other in Computer Science, and I just moved here from Texas, so I need new friends. Seemed as good a reason as anything."

I glared at him. "Sure," I muttered dryly. "Because my attitude just screams 'easy friendship.'"

May and Davis chuckled at that. "And even when you are friends it doesn't scream that," May remarked, tossing a smirk at me.

"Ha ha," I muttered back at her.

"So... do you have any idea who destroyed the gym?" Davis asked May and me suddenly without looking up from his sandwich.

I turned to him nervously. "Er... The principal asked us about that, too," I told him. "They thought it might have been us since we were here so late, but they decided it wasn't. I guess the culprits are out there somewhere."

He smiled. "Somewhere," he agreed.

 **X X X**

The next day as school gave out, Davis stood on the second floor, watching his target's locker over the book he pretended to read. He had managed to plant his trap earlier that day, and now everything was going to come to a head. Either everything would go according to plan, or he would be forced to follow her and improvise a way to capture both her and her Digimon. Hopefully it would be the former. He wanted to be able to set a trap for Tasuke before he returned home to Wong; Davis had overheard that Tasuke had lost his 3D. While he was fairly certain this referred to the Digivice, he couldn't be sure. There were a few phone models with names like that, but he doubted that a Digidestined would use that term so lightly. At this point he was certain that Tasuke was the other Digidestined, which meant he would need to draw Tasuke's attention that afternoon or risk a missing person's case the next day regarding May.

All he had left Mayumi Anderson in her locker was a note, one with not many words. It contained a meeting place – an empty stretch of park currently being watched by a few D-CARD agents and not far from the school –, a claim that the author of the note knew about Dorimon, and a threat to reveal that knowledge unless she met with the note's author. It was hastily scrawled on a notepad from the school shop emblazoned with the school's logo, with a soda stain on one corner. With luck, that would convince her that she was dealing with a normal student who didn't really know what to do with the knowledge that Digimon were real. That would make it far more likely for her to listen to the letter and walk right into the trap.

He glanced over the book again as he turned the page, smiling inwardly as he saw that she had the note in her hand. She was clutching it tighter and tighter, fingers beginning to crumple the paper. So she'd reached the blackmail bit. She stuffed the note into her pocket and threw her backpack around her shoulders before making for the door.

That was Davis' cue. He shut his book and shoved it into his backpack as he walked down the stairs. He calmly moved towards the exit, pulling his key from his pocket and diverging from the sprinting Mayumi's path. He jumped into his old red Cherokee and began to drive calmly towards the park. He made sure to not follow her too closely, and even got ahead of her at times to make it look like he wasn't following her. To his relief, she was following the instructions that had been left for her. Huckmon appeared out of thin air in the passenger seat, scowling at his partner. "I would like to say again, I don't like kidnapping."

Davis sighed and scratched his Digimon behind the ears. "Well, neither do I," he admitted. "But if she doesn't listen agree when I tell her how it's going to be, then this is the best chance at finding the other Digidestined. If she can draw him in, then there's a good chance she'll work with us when he does."

Huckmon frowned deeper. "But why would Tasuke work with us, if it even is him? Especially if we kidnap his friend?"

Davis shrugged as they circled around the park and parked. "Director Gethen said he has leverage of some kind." He turned the car off and stared at the meeting point, watching the girl slowly make her way towards it, Digimon plodding along behind her.

Huckmon rolled his eyes. "I'd really prefer if we decided to be friends with them, like you said at your school," he remarked after Davis opened his door.

The Digidestined stopped, one foot out the door. Without turning to look back at Huckmon, he sighed. "We have our orders. Come on, Huckmon."

Huckmon sighed and jumped out of the car after Davis. If that was what it took to keep his friend safe to have fun another day, he supposed he could survive that.

 **X X X**

May swallowed down a pit of fear in her throat as she glanced around. The park was empty, but the parking lot wasn't. When someone had left a note in her locker saying that they knew about Dorimon, she had been worried it was some kind of trap. It had looked like it was written by a messy five year old, so that had eased her worries. Now, with nothing but a dry wind and an unusually quiet Dorimon to accompany her, she felt that her worries were probably right. She clutched her 3D as tight as possible. "May, I don't like this," Dorimon muttered worriedly. "It's too quiet."

May nodded, and kept her eyes fixed on the other side of the park, where another car had just pulled up. "Yeah," she replied, shoving her hands in her jacket pockets to hide the Digivice. She hoped this didn't come to another fight, and if this person didn't have a Digi-

"May! I... I smell a Digimon," Dorimon muttered, fidgeting wildly as she fought off the urge to sprint towards the source of the smell. She whined and slid up to May's leg, watching the two figures approaching them. The first a human in khaki jeans and a white shirt, and the other a quadrapedal, white Digimon with a long red cape along its back.

The pair approached slowly, almost agonizingly so. Of course, May was wondering if that was simply because of how nervous she was for all of this. But this didn't give her more time to come up with a plan, at least not one that didn't revolve around digivolving Dorimon, and she didn't want that. Maybe this kid – Davis, dammit, she should have listened to Taj about him – was just another Digidestined, and he wanted to make friends like he had claimed at lunch. May clenched her fists around her 3D again. No, he was definitely not a friend; Dorimon was right, it was way too quiet.

"May," Davis said, nodding slightly as he stopped in front of me. His Digimon partner, a... _Damn,_ she thought, T _aj would be better at this. Even after he stopped playing the card game and watching the show, he'd basically been an encyclopedia of Digimon_. He saw her gaze get fixed on his partner. "Go ahead. Check your 3D. It'll tell you."

I narrowed my eyes at him, then pulled the Digivice out. It beeped and a purple chibi dog appeared at the center. It began to quickly spin, then separated into a new window. "Huckmon, a Mini Dragon Digimon of the data type. He has great latent power and the potential to become one of the top network security agents. He distracts his enemies by breathing his Baby Flame attack, then follows up with a Fifth Rush to cut them to pieces. Even some Ultimates can't stand up to his attacks."

Davis pulled out his own phone, and May noticed it was indeed a 3D. It was white, save for a brown cross on the back. "I don't need to analyze your Digimon, of course," he said, pointing with the tool at Dorimon. "Your Dorumon is famous in my organization."

May glared at him, gears turning until she realized what he meant. "So, you _are_ one of those people chasing her."

Davis shrugged. "Yes. I'm here to offer you a chance to join. There are great benefits."

"Really? And what would be the cost?" May wondered cautiously.

He nodded. "I'm not going to lie to you. Everything we have on you says that you're a pacifist; we're in the business of defense."

May laughed dryly. "Sixteen year old soldiers? This has to be a joke." Davis didn't laugh. In fact, his face was so serious that she took a half step back. "What the h-"

Huckmon vanished and reappeared behind her. He sounded almost disappointed with everything going on when he told her, "Sorry, but you can't leave yet."

May reached down to pick up Dorimon. "So what? I join you or else?"

Davis put his empty hand into his pocket. "I'm sorry, really, but those are my orders. You have to understand, us – D-CARD – we have Digimon partners to help protect the country from the Tamers and Digidestined of other countries. For decades now, there's been an arms race going on, between every possible country at every possible moment. It's a war to reach Mega, and whoever wins is going to own the entire planet."

May clutched Dorimon tighter, more for herself than for the Digimon. "I won't let her be used as a weapon. She's a living creature."

"Yeah, I fight when I want to, not when some old human tells me to," Dorimon snapped, struggling against her partner's grip. "And right now, I want to slam your stupid face into the ground, G-Man!"

Huckmon laughed behind them. "G-Man? No, that's someone else," he said, earning an annoyed glare from his human partner. "What? He is!"

Davis sighed and decided to return his attention to May. "Is that your final answer."

May turned her attention down to her partner, who was now staring up at her. "No. This is." She let go, and Dorimon leaped into the air. May pulled out her Digivice, the Digivolve card already prepared. She tapped it twice with her thumb, and Dorimon was surrounded by an egg that soon exploded. Her legs lashed out, but Davis had already dodged to the side and pulled out a deck of cards.

"Disappointing," he said as he reached his feet again. He nodded at Huckmon, and swiped one of the cards. "Digi-modify. Malomyotismon activate."

Huckmon leaped into the air, his cape spreading out. "Pandemonium Flame!" he shouted before breathing in and unleashing a massive burst of green flames. Dorumon glared up at the Digimon before sprinting to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. Huckmon and Davis had anticipated this, however, as her attempt at dodging had placed her firmly in the path of Huckmon's claws. "Fifth rush!" The claws glowed white for a moment and he shot forward, slashing repeatedly at Dorumon. The purple Digimon shouted out in pain and was thrown backwards, tumbling across the grass and dirt. She dug her foreclaws into the ground and pushed up to her feet to glare at the other Digimon. "Just give up, will you? I really don't want to hurt you."

"Metal Cannon!" Dorumon roared, and the cannonball shot towards Huckmon. The white Digimon sighed and effortlessly leaped past the attack. More flames exploded out of the Huckmon's maw, spiraling towards Dorumon faster than the slightly injured Digimon could dodge again.

"Digi-modify! WarGreymon's Brave Shield activate!" May shouted, tapping the screen again. Dorumon's eyes remained locked on the attack, though her body was soon protected by green, angular lines that soon solidified into a golden shield. The green flames clashed uselessly against the newly created wall and flew off.

"Not bad," Davis shouted as Huckmon landed and began to cautiously wait for the shell to disappear or for Dorumon to leave it. "It's a good defensive choice, and it might the strongest shield. But it limits a rookie's movement, and its strength doesn't matter against an attack like this one. Digi-modify! BlackWarGreymon Activate!"

Huckmon's claws extended and the armor around them turned a deep black. He jumped towards the shield and began to spin. "Dramon Killer!" Huckmon screamed, the black claws glinting dangerously before slamming into the shield. There was a brief moment where May thought that the shield would hold, but it soon shattered into a thousand fragments. Dorumon, still stuck behind it, was hit full force by the attack and thrown backwards again.

"It's a better defense for a champion or higher, something with the strength to move that much Chrome Digizoid. Mobility is key in a fight," Davis explained calmly. He motioned for Huckmon to return to his side. "Surrender. We don't want to hurt Dorumon."

Dorumon forced herself up to her feet. Her data fluctuated once, nearly breaking May right then and there. She opened her mouth to surrender, just as commanded, but her partner cut her off. "Don't listen to 'em, May. These Digi-Jerks don't know who they're messing with!"

Huckmon sighed and dug his claws into the grass. "Look, Dorumon, I don't want to hurt you." He took a step forward. "But I will." He charged forward, making normal attacks so that the Digimon wouldn't burst into data. Dorumon dodged a claw attack and brought her head forward. A powerful headbutt collided with Huckmon's face and he stumbled back, barely recovering in time to dodge her glowing claws.

"Metal Shoot!" Dorumon screamed as Huckmon landed, and a small metal sphere flew forward and collided with Huckmon's chest. He was tossed back towards Davis, rolling across the ground until he came to a stop at Davis' feet. "How do you like that licorice?!"

"I'm a chocolate kind of guy," Huckmon growled, pushing himself up to his feet. "You two are way better than the usual bozos that come after us."

"But you can't beat us, even with that," Davis agreed.

"Really? Then why don't you try this on for size!? Digi-modify! ChaosDramon activate!" Davis' eyes widened and he turned to May.

Dorumon opened her mouth, red energy swirling into a point at the center of her jaws. "Hyper Mugen Cannon!" She screamed before the burst of energy exploded towards Huckmon.

"Digi-modify! Digivolve!" Davis snapped, drawing the card through the reader with practiced speed and precision.

Huckmon vanished into a sphere of brown data lines that quickly solidified into a brown and white egg. The attack slammed into the shell of the egg and was redirected by the energies swirling within. The cannon attack swirled upward, disappearing into the sky. "For a pacifist, you really have a killer instinct." Davis turned towards the panting and terrified May. "But you're coming with me." He reached around his back and pulled something up. There was a loud 'bang,' and May's world went horizontal. The last thing she saw before everything went dark was an explosion of energy coming from the egg and a massive white leg tearing out of it.

 **X X X**

Davis felt hollow as he watched the now unconscious Dorimon and May were loaded into a transport van. He lifted up her stolen 3D, feeling somber. "I hate Digivolving," Huckmon grumbled as he plodded up to his partner. "It always means I have to hurt somebody."

"They're still alive," Davis pointed out, never taking his eyes off of the girl's Digivice.

"Still not likely to be our friends," Huckmon pointed out sullenly. "And I was really hoping we'd have someone to race with."

Davis swiped the screen of the 3D and opened up the texting app. He scrolled down until he found Tasuke's name. "They'll understand. Eventually. It's this or the people we love die," he muttered before he began to type. "Tasuke, I have your friend. Tell me where your Digimon is and meet me there in 30 minutes." He pocketed the device and turned towards Huckmon. "When he responds, we'll be heading to his Digimon. I'm sorry, Huckmon... but are you up for another fight?"

Huckmon sighed dejectedly. "Sure," he muttered, knowing it was the only way to help keep Davis safe. "Let's go capture a BlackGuilmon." He plodded along behind his partner, hoping that this wouldn't forever sour the relationship Davis could have with the other two Digidestined. After all, he was just doing his job.

 _Oh, man, this is really bad. May got kidnapped by D-CARD? And on top of that Davis can Digivolve to Champion!? Jeez, Tasuke is going to have it rough, especially if he doesn't tell Henry! I can't imagine having to fight Rika if she learned how to get Renamon to Digivolve before Guilmon did. I have a feeling it would have ended with me face down on the ground getting laughed at. And that would probably be on a good day. I hope Tasuke can figure something out, and that he can one day get to school on time. I can't believe that's genetic..._

 _Well, see you next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


	6. Tasuke's Inheritance:Digital Delivery?

**AN: Hey everyone! I hope you like this chapter, because after this we're pretty much done with the 'introduction' portion of the story, and the main plot can begin!**

 **Anyways, time for responses!**

 **To smartalec121: Yeah, I love Dorimon and Taj's interactions. It's weird, but I really think that how the Digimon react to the Digidestined that _aren't_ their partner is the most fun in this. Once the main trio are really together, May and BlackGuilmon is my favorite of what I have planned. They _really_ don't like each other. As for Henry, I agree that he would recognize the signs once they really started popping up. Unfortunately, his family also has another history: willful ignorance. Henry's dad worked for HYPNOS and still didn't put two and two together for a while. On top of that, the 3D looks way different from the D-Power, and he wouldn't want to believe that Tasuke could be connected to an actual monster like BlackGuilmon. He might pick it up eventually, but when he does, is he going to try to convince himself it's anything else?**

 **Now, I hope you all enjoy and leave a review, even with constructive criticism. I'll respond to anything on the most recent chapter that isn't spam.**

 _ **Episode 6: Tasuke's Inheritance: Digital Delivery!?**_

Agent Smith was very confused by her most recent orders, but she knew better than to not follow them. That was why she and Commandramon had marched through the nursery towards the very edge of the Digital Field where the Firewall stood. The massive barrier between the field and the Digital World proper that, save for a few anomalies, kept any Digimon from entering the nursery from the Digital World or vice versa. A location that, realistically, she should never have been ordered to wait before returning to see the head of D-CARD. Not guard, _wait_. She'd do as commanded, but damn if she wouldn't question those orders at least within the safety of her own thoughts.

Agent Smith frowned and checked the mag of her data gun, making sure it was full before whatever the hell it was that the higher ups had ordered her here for showed up. It couldn't be good; she'd learned that if something broke the monotony, it wasn't good. Fun, maybe. A good opportunity to impress the higher ups, definitely. But good? Almost never. Take that BlackGuilmon thing, for example. A real mission after guarding a bunch of literal infants from nothing, a break in the monotony. One that killed more than a dozen infant Digimon and eggs. Each of those was priceless to the higher ups, and not to mention alive, kind of. If she'd captured the BlackGuilmon, they'd have promoted her for sure; she and Commandramon could have had a shot at some missions in the real world. The fun spy, cloak and dagger, fighting stuff. Which meant that if she did this well, maybe those missions would start coming her way. And if she followed orders efficiently just like Commandramon liked, she knew her merge rate would increase, and that would only give the higher ups another reason to think of her as a good agent.

Commandramon walked up to the Firewall, which in this semi-digital plane took on the shape of a domed wall that physically marked the end of the plane. Up close, one could see the pixels of the image that usually formed the horizon of the nursery: the grainy trees and sun, the ever looping image of Digimon playing in the distance, and the same clouds that moved in the same pattern every day. He sighed as a feeling of melancholy passed over him at the memories he held of the Digital World and the freedom it had held. While he may take to following orders and being a good subordinate, the desire to be free to see his home again – no matter how lawless and destructive it was – was always present in his Digi-Core. The rookie Digimon placed his claw less than an inch away from the wall, pressing softly against the repulsive force it generated.

The two stood in silence for a long while, just waiting as they had been told to wait by their commanding officer. Seconds ticked by, then minutes. Smith was, predictably in Commandramon's mind, the one that needed to break the silence. "So, something's going to come out of that, right?" she wondered aloud. She gestured with her gun at the Firewall. "The big question is how, given the fact Digimon usually slide through on accident."

"Any Digimon that could find or force their way through would have to be immensely powerful," Commandramon agreed. He lowered his claw and placed it back on his rifle. "Not to mention they would have to know where this specific Firewall was going to be and when in order to get here instead of another country's nursery."

Agent Smith frowned and grew quiet. "What is it, Ma'am?" Commandramon wondered, though he wasn't sure he completely cared. While it was interesting, the questions they were asking weren't all that important.

The woman glanced over at her partner. "To know that, they'd have to get a message from the real world, but we've always been told that's impossible. Not even radio signals can travel across the Firewall in that direction."

Commandramon turned away from her. "... You're right," he admitted, the idea confusing and worrying him. Had they been lying about being unable to return him to the Digital World? He wasn't happy about that idea. He buried those thoughts, for now; he wasn't sure how his partner would view his worries. If she thought they were insubordination and reported him, it would go poorly for him. While she was almost always soft, she wanted to get ahead as much as any other human did.

"Never heard you admit I'm right about something like that before," Smith joked, walking over and rubbing the top of the Digimon's head. "See? I'm not so bad."

Commandramon rolled his eyes, and pushed her hand away. "Focus," he commanded before turning away. She sighed and shrugged, then turned away as well.

The two waited in silence for some time until, finally, there was a massive crackling noise. It was like the static the radio made when not receiving a signal, or when old rabbit ear TVs couldn't pick up on any channels. And it was coming from the Firewall.

They both immediately turned to the source of the noise, guns clicking into position to aim at the disturbance. The wall had a patch of dead pixels, an ever growing, jagged circle of black that sent out that shrieking static. Eventually, the shape stopped growing, though its jagged edges did not stabilize, with pixels disappearing and reappearing along the circumference in a rapid fire change. Commandramon looked at Agent Smith out of the corner of his eye, seeing she was just as worried and ready for a fight as he was. He returned his attention to the Firewall.

The static noise began to grow louder and more high pitched for a moment before suddenly vanishing. Deep within the dead zone, there was... something. The guns dipped for a moment before immediately returning to aim directly at this shape. "What the hell?" Smith wondered aloud, echoing Commandramon's own thoughts. The human shape began to grow closer, and an explosion of cold ran down Commandramon's spine. That scent it... it was death. His pupils turned to slits and he growled nervously, slowly backing away while keeping his gun trained on this figure. The figure in the Firewall stopped after a few more steps, remaining fuzzy just beyond the Firewall's furthestmost edge. It raised its arm over its shoulder, and threw it forward.

The dead zone slammed shut as the thrown object soared towards the Nursery, popping out just before the last dead pixel was reconstructed. A box landed on the ground between the partners, but it remained ignored. They were far more concerned with the dead zone. Though it had disappeared, both still aimed their weapons at it. "W-what the hell?" Smith repeated nervously, only after she was fairly certain that the disturbance was not going to reappear.

Commandramon did not respond for a moment, also waiting cautiously to see whether or not the disturbance was truly gone. Finally, he lowered his weapon. "... We... we should deliver this box to the Director," he stated, not quite sure of what had just happened. That scent, it was so dangerous. He picked up the box in both hands and began to walk towards a location he had never been allowed to enter before: the doorway to the human world. He briefly wondered what was inside the box, though never so much as to steal a glance. What could be so important as to be the first item in almost a decade to be delivered from the Digital World to the human world?

 **X X X**

"Hm, who could that be?" Director Gethen wondered after someone knocked on the door. He glanced up from the file he was reading on Takato Matsuki and shut it with his right hand. He placed it inside the desk before reaching out with his left hand to grab his whiskey. "Enter."

A woman in blue military fatigues entered, her red hair done in a ponytail. She stood at attention, a red box clutched in her hands. A small, green-tone-camouflage dinosaur rested atop her shoulder, looking very serious. One of his stubby little arms rested against the side of her head to "Ah, Agent Smith. Cadetmon. I wasn't expecting you to arrive so soon," Director Gethen said simply. He took a drink of his whiskey before placing it back on the table. "Well?"

The agent nodded and walked up to the table, carefully placing the box on the table. She stood up straight and took a step back. "I commend you on your quick work and your ability to resist looking within the package," Gethen said as he picked up the box, giving it a cursory glance to find that the seal had not been broken. He broke it. "As a reward, I will let you see exactly what it is that you delivered." He opened the box, pulling out...

A pair of round goggles with very large lenses. The casing was a deep crimson and the lenses themselves a dark violet. "They're... nice, Sir," Cadetmon said after a few moments of the director staring at the item in his hands, his deep voice clashing oddly with his tiny form.

The director returned his attention to his subordinates. "Nice? Oh, these are far more than nice. These are... well, for lack of a better term, they are a relic. These belonged to one of the first Digidestined to ever grace this world. One of the three reasons that this very organization even exists in the first place."

Agent Smith and Cadetmon were quiet for a moment before the Digimon piped up. "The Crimson Knight is still alive/" he asked, awe filling his voice. "The First Biomerger has been missing ever since the Sovereigns disappeared. Where did you find his goggles?" Gethen raised an eyebrow. Cadetmon quickly tacked on, "Sir?"

"That, unfortunately, is not something you need to know," the director said after a few moments of silence. He gestured for the door. "You are dismissed."

The partners saluted before Agent Smith turned and took them both out. He waited until the door clicked closed before standing up, taking a small device out of a drawer. He pressed a button and waited. "I have to say, I didn't expect delivery so soon. Good job, Reapmon."

"I didn't want to dawdle," the Demon Man Digimon said on the other side of the line. "After all, once we have the Hazard in hand, remaking the world is only a step away."

In the hallway, the eyes of a small dinosaur went wide as his hearing caught what the director had said. He looked at his partner, who was for once marching along quietly. "Jennifer," he said quietly. "Can we go somewhere? I just want to talk with you about something."

 **X X X**

I sighed as I drove up to home, putting my car in park and letting it idle. It was boring to have to head home immediately without hanging out with May. I usually hung out with her every day, heading to her house until Henry got home. The fact that his car was in the driveway next to mine made it clear that he was working from home right now. All to make sure he could take my phone as I walked through the door. I bet he didn't do anything crazy when he was my age; probably never got grounded or snuck out once in his life. And he'd never let me get away with it, so I knew it was time to head inside.

Before I could unbuckle and reach out to turn off the car, my phone buzzed out a Digivolution noise. A text message. I shrugged; checking it now meant that I could face punishment later instead of now. The Digivice was in my hand a moment later, the message popping up.

My phone was on the chair again a moment later, a text sent to Henry as I slammed the car into reverse. "Tasuke, I have your friend. Tell me where your Digimon is and meet me there in 30 minutes." That was all some asshole sent me from May's phone. My knuckles were white on the steering wheel and I had to fight the brutal urge to go 90 in a 35 just to get to whoever had my best friend. I blasted through a turn and went as fast as I dared to without risking a cop chasing me down for speeding. I cut someone off and ignored their angry honking; I had more important things to worry about.

It didn't take me long to get there with how fast I was going. I was out of the car and locking it a half second later while I sprinted at full speed towards the park, tripping over rocks and roots. My 3D's compass was open, leading me to my Digimon partner. "Come on, come on," I chanted. I had to make it to him first. I had to make it to BlackGuilmon before whoever had May got to him. If I did, we could be ready for a fight. After all, there was no way that Dorimon just let someone take May. This person took down Dorumon in a fight, and they had enough left over to come after me and BlackGuilmon half an hour later.

It was at that moment that I realized this was all because of me. Goddammit, this was all because of me. I'd been in trouble until Dorimon Digivolved to save me from the Veemon, and now she'd been tracked down, just like May had said she would be. I hadn't been careful enough! I snarled at the ground, so focused on how angry I was that I wasn't even seeing that my Digivice's compass had begun to swirl wildly. Until, that is, I slammed into a very angry black dinosaur. The two of use yelped and began to tumbled over one another across the ground, dirt and rock digging into both of us. Eventually the two of us came to a stop, BlackGuilmon plopping down on top of me like a pile of rocks. All the air quickly exited my lungs, and I was slowly crushed under the surprisingly dense dinosaur.

He didn't move as he opened his eyes, an annoyed glare glowing in his reptilian pupils. "Watch where you're going, _Tasuke_."

I opened my mouth to respond, but what remained of the air in my lungs exited the moment my lips parted. He didn't move, but opened his mouth slightly and let loose a _rancid_ blast of air across my face. My stomach fell to my feet and began to spin. I dug my arms under him and lifted as hard as I could. "What's... wrong?" I managed to gasp.

"You were followed, Idiot," BlackGuilmon growled. He slammed his foreclaws to the ground on the side of my head, causing dust to explode all around me. I coughed as he pushed himself up and turned to glare at where we had collided. I clutched at my gut, still sore from bearing his massive weight, and turned to follow his gaze.

" _You!_ " I snapped, immediately jumping to my feet and shoving BlackGuilmon's head out of the way. I marched towards the human standing there, his hands crossed over his chest. "Davis, I knew you were – I knew – Gah! I knew something was off with you!" He didn't say anything, so I brought my hand back in a fist. "Say something you kidnapping freak!" I brought my fist forward as hard and fast as I could, right into open air as he ducked the punch. His leg shot out, looping around the outside of my ankle, and his other hand came up to slap me down. I tumbled right to the ground. I think BlackJerkmon was laughing. Very expected of him.

Davis crossed his arms again and looked down at me. "Charging without thinking. I never even started talking." He leaned down and yanked my hands behind me before shoving his knee into the small of my back. He continued, "That's reckless. What if you'd hurt me? Maybe the people holding Mayumi would follow orders and kill her."

I froze on the ground. "K-kill?"

BlackGuilmon finally spoke up. "So, not all humans are as squeamish as you?" he asked me, plodding over. I looked over my shoulder to see him baring his teeth at Davis. "But as squeamish as he is, he's _mine_. Get off of him or die."

Davis glanced over at my Digimon, then slowly stood up and backed away. BlackGuilmon didn't turn his gaze from Davis as he snapped, "Get up." I scrambled to do as he said, reaching my feet and standing cautiously beside him. He gestured with his head towards where my Digivice rested, forgotten after our tumble and my failed attack. I dashed towards it and picked it up,clutching it like it was the only thing that could keep me safe. Davis didn't even move.

"Well?" I growled at him. I bit back my desire to just sick BlackGuilmon on him until he told me where May was; his Digimon would just pop out from somewhere and stop us. I shoved down my rage and tried to think. "You told me to meet you here. Why?"

Davis glanced between me and the still snarling BlackGuilmon before answering. "I'd really rather not fight, Taj -"

"Only my friends call me Taj," I growled. "And you _kidnapped_ my friends."

Davis shrugged. "Tasuke, then," he corrected. He gestured at BlackGuilmon and me with his left hand. "Like I said, I'd rather not fight. If you come with me calmly and quietly, I will take you to May. If you decide to work with us, you both will be set free, and paid."

"... And if I don't come quietly?" I wondered angrily.

Davis matched my glare. "You and your Digimon will be knocked unconscious and I'll take you in anyways," he responded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He went quiet for a few moments. "I would prefer if we didn't do that, though. I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to be your friend. I think beating you and your Digimon up would be quite an obstacle for that."

"And what makes you think you'd win?" BlackGuilmon growled, smoke rising form his nostrils now. He was angry.

Davis pulled out his phone. A 3D. "I've been doing this far longer than either of you."

"I'll still load your partner's data!" BlackGuilmon roared. He took off at full speed, charging Davis before I could say anything. A white and red streak slammed into BlackGuilmon's side before he could even get close, sending him flying into a tree trunk.

"I guess we're fighting," I mumbled as I pulled out a few of my cards and waited to get a better look at Davis' Digimon. He the ground and slid to a stop in front of his partner, claws digging into the ground. My eyes widened. "Wait... Is that a Huckmon!?"

The Digimon grinned at me. "In the flesh!" His grin vanished and he stared at me seriously. "Now, tell your partner to surrender. No one threatens Davis, ever."

BlackGuilmon pushed himself to his feet. "And no one tells me what to do!" he roared. His mouth opened wide. "Pyro Grenade!"

"Teen Ram!" Huckmon leaped forward and brought his hind legs up, tail turning into a drill that easily burrowed through the viral attack, dissipating the flames into swirling, weak sparks. Huckmon landed silently despite his metal body and glared at BlackGuilmon. To Davis: "Permission to fight?"

Davis sighed. "I guess we've got no choice," he remarked, audibly disappointed with how this turned out. He pulled out a Digimon card and slid it through the Digivice. "Digi-Modify! Zhuqiaomon activate!" Huckmon glowed for a moment as his type switched to vaccine, and then the fight began in earnest.

"Finally, a good meal!" BlackGuilmon shouted before charging Huckmon. The white Digimon growled and charged as well, the two on acollision course of death. Claws lashed at one another, both Digimon testing the other's defenses as the bladed appendages clashed against one another or against their opponent's body. The entire time, Davis just kept his eyes locked on me.

 _Jerk thinks he can just ignore their fight? He's got another thing coming,_ I snarled inwardly. I pulled out a card and shouted out to BlackGuilmon, "Get your back to the tree!" I ordered.

"Terrible idea, Idiot!" BlackGuilmon snapped, ignoring my command, though he was slapped in the face until his back did hit a tree.

"You don't seem very good at this," Davis pointed out. "He doesn't listen, you don't have good plans. Mayumi was way better."

I ignored him, focusing on BlackGuilmon. "Use Pyro Grenade!"

The black dinosaur growled but opened his mouth to comply anyways. "Teen Ram!" Huckmon snapped, jumping forward before he could finish the attack. Right into my trap.

"Digi-Modify! MetalGarurumon, activate!" I snapped, sliding the card through my Digivice.

BlacGuilmon's eyes widened as an explosive spiral of ice shot out of his already open mouth, accompanied by the words, "Metal Wolf Claw!" Huckmon's eyes widened as the cold hit him head on, the Data infused Mega attack easily overpowering his own attack and freezing him solid. Huckmon hit one of the trees, a veritable ice cube, then collapsed to the ground.

BlackGuilmon recovered from his surprise first and glanced over at me. "A good idea? Finally!"

"Okay, shut up and just help me deal with this guy," I snapped at the ungrateful Digimon. "Why do I put up with this?"

I returned my attention to the other Digidestined, who was staring at the frozen Huckmon with a look of honest surprise on his face. He blinked once and scoffed in surprise. "I really underestimated you. Your Digimon doesn't listen at all, so I naturally assumed you two had no combat aptitude." He looked over at me. "If you two liked each other, you might be able to win."

"Might be? I'm two seconds from loading your pet's data!" BlackGuilmon mocked. Smoke rose from his nostrils as he chuckled. "And then maybe dessert..."

Davis glared at BlackGuilmon, who was advancing towards Huckmon. After that Digimon had helped kidnap May, I didn't exactly feel like stopping BlackGuilmon from killing him. Serves them right. "You know, the TV show might sound cheesy, with the whole 'power of friendship thing,'" Davis began as he reached into his pocket and pulled out another card, "but it isn't far off."

"BlackGuilmon, run!" I snapped as I realized what was coming. He just stopped in his tracks and glared at me, like an idiot.

"Digi-Modify! Digivolution, activate!"

The ice exploded off of Huckmon's body, shattering as an egg grew from within. After but a moment, a large, metallic foot with massive white claws exploded out. "Huckmon, Digivolve to..." Another exploded out, followed by a tail with a glowing red sword. "BaoHuckmon!" The egg exploded, slamming BlackGuilmon into the ground and revealing Huckmon's new form. He was much the same in overall shape, with white metal covering his entire body and a massive black horn coming out of his face. However, his tail was longer and more prehensile, and his mantle was attached to a metallic collar. His hind legs ended with long, thin, black blades instead of feet. His head was more robotic and threatening. I slowly raised my Digivice.

"BaoHuckmon, a Data type, Dinosaur Digimon. A Huckmon that has undergone intense training and has become mentally, physically, and technically more powerful. He uses his Teen Blade attack to cut his enemies down, and his Fif Cross to ignite what remains. A Digimon that has begun unlocking the power to become one of the top Cyber Security agents."

"Now, will you surrender?" BaoHuckmon asked coolly. His tail flicked tot he side and I watched as one of the trees was bisected vertically.

BlackGuilmon looked scared, understandably. We were being faced with a fifteen foot tall Champion Digimon. Even if he thought he could win, he had to know it was going to be difficult. Still, he steeled himself. "Stay far away. His attacks are all close range!" I shouted to BlackGuilmon. He didn't acknowledge that he heard me, but he jumped backwards and unleashed another Pyro Grenade at BaoHuckmon.

The Champion Digimon brought his long, bladed tail around to cleave through the attack, making it explode uselessly in front of him. I knew that we needed another card, some powerful Virus type attack. Unfortunately, I didn't have any of those; I had stupidly assumed that BlackGuilmon would have all the Viral attack power we needed. BlackGuilmon retreated further, firing Pyro Grenades every couple of steps, each green fireball dying to BaoHuckmon's tail. "Our turn," Davis eventually said before pulling another card out. "Digi-Modify! Ice-Devimon activate!"

"Zero Freeze!" BaoHuckmon shouted as his eyes turned an icy blue.

"Dodge it!" I shouted to BlackGuilmon, but he was stuck in the middle of charging up a Pyro Grenade. BaoHuckmon's eyes glowed brighter just before a beam of cold shot from them, enveloping BlackGuilmon entirely. He was frozen solid, the green fire a viral ice cube not far from his jaws, frozen just like he was.

"This isn't the end!" I snapped, pulling out an alias card and an energy card.

Davis reached behind his back and pulled out a gun, aiming it at me. I froze, suddenly way colder than BlackGuilmon. He was going to shoot me? Kill me in cold blood? I suddenly understood that I was in no way ready for any of this. "Yes. It is." Then he pulled the trigger. There was a powerful shock that ran through my entire body for a moment, and then the world went sideways. My body was twitching without my control, and my vision was tunneling. "Don't worry." Davis' feet came into view, as did a much smaller Huckmon's. "We'll be taking you to May right now." And that was all I heard before the world went completely dark.

 **X X X**

Henry sat quietly in the basement, a magnifying glass in place so he could gaze into the opened inner workings of his D-Power. There were so many parts in there he didn't even remotely understand, pieces that could somehow convert his emotions into energy, then that energy into physical matter and data, then integrate that data into Terriermon. How the hell his father's college game had turned into this, he had no idea. He wasn't sure he could figure this out even if he had all of D-CARD's research into how these things worked. He just wasn't a thirty person team of physicists, computer scientists, biotechnologists, and who knows what else.

But that wasn't an excuse. He had all of his dad's old notes, and Shibumi's... ramblings, honestly. With all of that, he should definitely be able to find a way to connect to the other D-Powers and open a door in the wall that they'd put up. He leaned in and began to examine what he had decided to call 'green rectangle seven;' it was the only one that had been doing anything since the static had started. It was glowing now, which was confusing in of itself. Silicon chips tended not to glow, so that meant this thing was... not a silicon chip. And that was all the progress he had made so far. That and don't touch it with metal. His hand still hurt from _that_ discovery.

He yanked back as he got too close and looked around. What was he forgetting? Right! "Tasuke! Where's Tasuke?" Henry wondered. He leaned back and placed the tools down. He rubbed his eyes and stood up, grabbing his phone and walking up the stairs. Momentai barked outside the door, running up and jumping up at Henry's leg. Henry nudged the dog away after giving in and petting Momentai's head, then went to the front window. He glanced out and saw Tasuke's car zooming away. "That little – " Henry cut himself off and growled under his breath, marching towards his keys. "When I get a hold of him -" He paused when his phone dinged in his pocket, pulling it out. "Better be Tasuke saying he has a good reason..."

And it was. Henry took a relieved breath. "May's dog is missing. I'm going to help find her. Call soon."

Henry frowned, but put his phone away. He walked right past his keys and into the kitchen, pulling open the fridge to grab a beer. Momentai turned his head to the side as the bottle top popped off. "What? I believe him," Henry said simply. He took a quick drink as the dog continued to glare at him. "He's a lot of things, but he's not a liar." He took another drink. "Besides, I can check with May later. She'd never lie to me."

Momentai yipped and began to wag his tail. "Yeah, of course I think she'd drop everything if you went missing." Henry spun his beer by the neck and sighed. "You know, I really want you to meet Terriermon, Momentai. He'd complain about not having a pet sometimes. Oh, it was Terriermon. He complained about it _all the time._ That he had to be the pet and he wanted to know what it was like to have one instead. Oh, and when Suzie put him in dresses... Ha..." He put his beer down and walked over to the dog, crouching down to scratch behind his ears. "Good boy, listening like that Momentai. You're such a good boy." He squished the dog's face between his hands. "Good boy, good boy!"

The dog just panted happily between the hands. "A good reminder of an annoying Digimon that looked like you," Henry explained, letting go to scratch him under the chin. "Letting Tasuke choose your name was a good idea, Momentai."

Momentai yipped happily and licked at Henry's face. "Stop! Stop! You're – ugh – you're getting it all over my face!" he laughed.

 **X X X**

"Jesus," I groaned when the first feeling to hit me was pain. A horrible headache pounding the inside of my skull in time with what felt like a burn mark at the center of my chest. "What the hell hit me?"

"Nrt enrph."

I opened my eyes and immediately regretted it; even the dim lights were blinding for some reason. Once the lights hurt less, I saw that I was in some kind of large, empty warehouse filled with shipping containers. "Is this what a hangover feels like?" I wondered aloud. The grunting noise said something again before growling. I turned towards the noise. "Wh – BlackGuilmon?"

The Digimon had a muzzle over his mouth and he was strapped to the ground. I moved to go get him, pushing myself off – oh, I had been unconscious on the ground, apparently – the ground and towards him. "What happened?" I asked the dinosaur shaped container of rage before reaching out for his muzzle and taking it off. "Are you okay?"

"I will kill you for not helping me win that fight."

"Huh?" I wondered. "Sorry, but everything is kind of fuzzy right now."

"Side effects of the data weapons on human physiology." I whirled around, fists raised. Davis raised his empty hands while Huckmon sat as non-threateningly as possible for a metal-sword-dinosaur. "I did try to get you to come without a fight, but I am still sorry you were hurt." He glared at BlackGuilmon now. "But _him._ Your Digimon tried to burn this place down when he first woke up! We had to knock him unconscious again and strap him down."

"Let me go and we'll see who gets knocked unconscious next," BlackGuilmon snarled, reptilian eyes locked on Huckmon.

"You're crazy," Huckmon muttered nervously. He glanced up at Davis. "I think he'll be hard to have fun with."

I put my hand on top of BlackGuilmon's snout and shoved it closed before he could scream a string of profanities and launch fireballs at Davis and Huckmon. We were really not in the right position for that stuff. "Where's May?" I asked as everything came back to me. "Give her back."

Davis blinked then silently nodded towards a camera in the corner. A moment later, one of the shipping containers opened. I stood up and sprinted towards the girl coming out, grabbing hold of her and her ugly Digimon. "May!" I shouted, hugging my best friend tight. "I thought I'd... lost..."

May laughed softly and patted my back. "You know I'd never leave you, Taj," she replied. She pushed me off of her and glared past me at Davis. "I'm sorry he beat me. I didn't want you captured, too."

"Well, we can Digivolve to Ultimate. Losing to you two was... never really something that was going to happen," Huckmon explained earnestly. He shrugged where he sat. "But you guys did put up quite a fight! I can see why you guys are Digidestined like Davis."

BlackGuilmon scoffed. "You think I believe that?"

"We've been partners for almost five years now. Our merge rate is well into the eighties," Davis told BlackGuilmon dismissively. "Unlike yours. I've never seen any partners, even Tamers, with a merge rate that low. Zero? Do you hate each other?"

"Wait, merge rate determines how far we can digivolve?" May asked, a flash of excitement crossing her face. Davis wasn't threatening us; in fact this whole thing seemed... friendly, almost. It was easy to let your guard down. "What are the -"

"What do you want?" I asked before she could go too far down the rabbit hole. She stopped talking and grinned sheepishly.

"It's what _I_ want, actually," a tall man said as he walked up, smirking. His blonde hair was loose behind the red shoulders of his well tailored suit. He held a red box in his hands, bound tight with a black tie. When he walked, the friendly ambiance disappeared, replaced with the overwhelming weight of his authority. He turned his gaze towards Davis. "Agent Estevez."

My blood ran cold. This man... "Director Gethen," Davis said, snapping a salute. Huckmon sighed, bored, beside him before clumsily doing the same with a foreclaw.

"At ease, Agent Estevez," Gethen said, nodding his head slightly. He turned his attention back to me. "Tasuke, it's been too long!"

"You know him?" Dorimon asked, scared at the weight of this man's charisma.

"Only in passing, Dorimon," Gethen said, his smirk turning towards her. His eyes traced up to May's face. "And Mayumi Anderson! You know, don't hold this against Agent Estevez. With your family and skills, you would have been on our radar eventually."

"Who are you?" Mayumi asked, just as anxious as her partner.

"D-CARD. We are the legal owners of your Digimon," he said, gesturing with his head at Dorimon, then at the growling BlackGuilmon. "Given the fact that they were created in our nursery."

"I belong to no one!" BlackGuilmon snarled from the ground. He struggled against the straps holding him down. "Especially not a _human_ like you!"

Gethen smiled, then walked over and calmly put his foot on top of BlackGuilmon's snout. BlackGuilmon snarled and tried to summon a Pyro Grenade before his jaws could shut, but it was slammed shut before he could. The smoke rose from his nose as he stopped the attack from forming completely. "I have no desire to limit your freedoms, but you belong to me." He gestured with his head to me. "As does he."

"Hell no! I won't work for some asshole that kidnapped my best friend!" I snapped, taking a step forward. A burst of flames hit the ground in front of me, quickly dissipating. Huckmon glared from where he had shot them. I stopped where I stood, but continued to glare at the man holding my Digimon's jaws down.

Gethen didn't look at me for a second. He didn't care, he wasn't threatened at all. "You know, I always admired your father's work," Gethen said after a moment. He turned to me and smiled.

"Henry's a genius," I responded cautiously. "Everyone admires his work."

"Ah, no," Gethen said. He pulled his foot off of BlackGuilmon's snout and walked over to me, completely confident that BlackGuilmon wouldn't attack. Oddly, he seemed to scared to attack. That didn't seem like him. Gethen stopped in front of me and opened the box, grinning as he pulled out what it held and let the box hit the ground. He held out a pair of very large, circular goggles with crimson casing and dark purple lenses. "I meant your _real_ father, Tasuke. And if you work for me, I can help you find Takato in the Digital World."

"What?" May asked, eyes widening. I didn't say anything. I just stared at the goggles, my memory tugging at me. I was four, watching my father and mother walk away. Those goggles, the goggles in this man's hands, were on my father's head. "Tasuke, is he telling the truth?"

I swallowed a pit of fear in my throat. "I... When do I start?" I asked, letting my gaze hit the ground.

Gethen smiled above me, reaching out to lift my hand. He carefully placed the goggles in it. "Immediately," he said triumphantly.

 _Wait a second... I got new goggles? Well, I guess it makes sense. These ones won't last forever. More importantly, how did Gethen get a Digimon as dangerous as Reapmon to deliver them? It sounds like this guy is more dangerous than he looks, and he looks pretty dangerous already. Jeez, I hope Tasuke and May can survive working for this guy on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


	7. Orientation Day:Joining D-CARD!

**AN: Hey everyone, sorry it's been a little while. I've been designing the backstory and DM notes for my next D &D campaign, and building a religion and history from scratch takes way more time than I thought. I definitely wasn't thinking when I thought it would be quick. But at least I'm mostly done now!**

 **Anyways, I hope everyone has had a good March.**

 **Now, for responses:**

 **To smartalec121: Don't worry, there will come a time when BlackGuilmon won't be completely one-note. Even if he is a newborn with the instincts of a hungry velociraptor, he is a Digidestined Digimon. He already has a food fixation with cinnamon rolls, so that's step one. And of course Taj is his human – it's like some siblings saying that only _they_ are allowed to bully their siblings. They care, they just don't like to show it. In case you don't want to check May's merge rate again, it's about 25% right now, and you'll see what that means in this chapter. She would certainly have an easier fight against Huckmon and Davis, but a trained government agent with an Ultimate Digimon is out of her league no matter what she does. I agree about Terriermon and Momentai. If/When Terriermon meets the dog, he'd give Henry a hard time even if he knew Henry didn't replace him, because that's just who the rabbit-dog is. As for reading into the goggles... well, no comment.**

 **Now then, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 _ **Episode 7: Orientation Day: Joining D-CARD!**_

Henry sat at the table, staring at his phone as ten o'clock rolled around, his only company a snoring dog and a half-full beer on the table beside him. He had been sure to leave the lights outside the house on for when Tasuke got back. It was important that he know Henry was still awake, waiting for him; no one liked coming home to a dark house. And so that he wouldn't try to just sneak upstairs again. Henry sighed and picked up his phone, unlocking it and staring at the last text Tasuke had sent. Henry sighed and put it back on the table as he rubbed his neck. "How long does it take to find a dog?" he muttered, annoyed. He was sure that his sister and her husband were wondering the same thing. He had checked in with her a little while after getting Tasuke's text and, thankfully, it seemed he had been telling the truth. She apparently liked to sneak her dog into her school. A terrible idea from such a smart girl, but one Henry really couldn't mock. He used to sneak Digimon into school, after all.

He briefly wondered if May's dog was a Digimon, then. After all, sneaking it in to school was eerily similar to what he had done as a kid. He wracked his brain, going through every Digimon he had ever heard of. While it had been a while since he'd obsessed over a list like that, he couldn't remember any that were ugly purple dogs. He shook his head and laughed the thought away; he would know if his niece had a Digimon. She'd be getting hurt, running off without explanation all the time, and he was sure he knew most of her tells. And on top of that, he was sure he would recognize a Digimon's behavior if he was around one long enough. Besides, Dory had been to his house a few times, and he'd never noticed the D-Power turn on or do anything weird when she was around.

Just then, Henry heard a truck pull up and idle in the driveway for a moment. The engine shook, then died. A door opened and slammed shut, and a few moments later a key slid into the lock. Tasuke yawned as he walked through the door, scratching his cheek as he went. "God, it's late," he muttered moving bleary eyed through the hall until he noticed Henry. "Hey."

Henry raised an eyebrow. "Hey?" he asked.

Tasuke nodded. "Oh, right." He walked towards Henry, reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone. He placed it on the table. "Night."

Henry blinked in surprise and grabbed Tasuke's arm, pulling his attention back. The kid was exhausted, eyelids drooping and dark circles under his eyes. "Did you find Dory?" he asked as he let go of his ward's arm. "I bet Mayumi was worried. She loves that ugly thing."

Tasuke laughed and nodded. "Don't know why. I'd be happy to get her a dog that didn't scare everyone around it," he replied. Tasuke shut his eyes and yawned. "Yeah, we found her. You'll never guess where she was."

Henry put his hand on his chin for a while, then shrugged. "Sleeping in a park?"

"Sleeping in her car," Tasuke replied with a laugh. "Stupid dog just jumped out when she was having a breakdown and whined until she was happy again. Pretty pointless trip, huh?"

Henry laughed as he heard that. "Sounds like an adventure," he said. "Those are never pointless. Believe me, you'll look back on all of them one day and you won't be able to stop smiling."

Tasuke raised a tired eyebrow. "Well, if you say so," he finally said, way too tired to argue. He yawned again. "I'm going to head to sleep, Uncle Henry. I've got to finish some work tomorrow morning, so I'll actually get to wake up early and get to school on time."

Henry laughed softly. "That _would_ be a nice change," he agreed with a grin. He reached forward and hugged Tasuke. "Night, Tasuke."

"Night, Henry," Tasuke replied, hugging Henry back before he made his way upstairs.

Henry watched the young man go up the stairs, a soft smile on his face. He'd dropped everything to help Mayumi, and he'd texted Henry before it happened. He took a deep breath of relief for another reason as well: if Tasuke, who basically knew every Digimon ever, didn't think Mayumi had a Digimon, then why should Henry worry?

He pushed himself up to his feet, grabbing Tasuke's phone and plugging it in. Momentai lifted his head and yawned, glancing around as he smelled Tasuke. He stared at Henry for a moment, then whined and returned his face to his bed. "Yeah, he can have it back," Henry agreed before putting the phone down. He stared at the design on the back of the phone. The Hazard; his best friend's symbol. It was nice that Tasuke chose it. Henry thought it meant that the kid did think his parents would come back, or at least he chose to believe that. "I'll make sure he'll have you guys back, too."

X X X

I sat at the head of my bed, the goggles resting on my lap. I just stared at them, feeling... Honestly, I'm still not sure. My entire life, I had thought my parents had abandoned me with Uncle Henry. He never had, but I knew better. What other explanation was there? I slowly grabbed the goggles and rubbed the plastic with my thumb, trying to convince myself that any of this was real. So far, it looked like it was. I'd been doing that whenever I could since Gethen –er, _Director_ Gethen had given them to me. Had to remember the title now that I worked for him.

My parents had been to the Digital World. They were there now, or at least my da – my _father_ was. I'd rather think they were together, though. The idea that one of them was stranded in a world surrounded by monsters like BlackJerkmon was... less than appealing. At least if they were together, they had someone. But if they were there, then there was something big that I hadn't ever considered, because... well, it was insane.

At least one of my parents was a Digidestined. If the show was _anything_ like real life, only Digidestined can go to the Digital World,or people they drag along. That meant that I was... well, was the reason I had been partnered with BlackGuilmon to save my parents? And what the hell was it that they had done when they were my age that they had been chosen as Digidestined? Questions about who my parents really were, what they had done, and what their Digimon could have been swirled through my head. And Henry, he was my dad's best friend. He must have known that they had a Digimon, right? And he must know about the Digital World, if that's the case... so... then...

He really did know they were trying to come back. He _knew_ they were in the Digital World.

I suddenly felt very guilty. He'd been telling me the truth, that they'd never abandoned me when I was a kid, and I'd yelled at him that he was acting naive, that he was an idiot. My parents had left me, that was true. Even if it was Digimon, they'd decided something was more important than me. I... I didn't know if I could forgive that. But Henry hadn't just been right, he'd been telling the truth. They were trying to come back... it just happened to be from a parallel dimension filled with monsters that could blow up skyscrapers. They may have left me, but I wasn't going to leave them to die. I'd bring them back, for me and for Henry. I'd keep it from Henry, though. If my parents vanished because of Digimon, there's no way he'd let me deal with them.

Which made me wonder, what was I going to tell Henry about these goggles? He'd recognize my dad's old goggles in a heartbeat, so... the card box. I'd gotten it out of the attic a while ago. I'd thrown most of my parents' old stuff in that box forever ago with the cards. The goggles were in the box. I lifted them to my head and slipped them on, then stood up and walked over to a mirror inside of my closet door. My blue black hair looked weird all pushed down by the goggles, so I pulled my hair out and let my messy bangs cover them slightly. I turned to the side and pushed the back of my hair up to cover the black strap, then looked at myself. My bangs covered the nose part of the goggles, with a few messy strands across the glass. I looked good in these, though that may have been "I guess that makes me the gogglehead of all this," I muttered as I fiddled with the strap to make it fit better. "I guess May was wrong. There is a Data Squad, she's doing it with me, and I _am_ Tai." I pulled the goggles off and rubbed the plastic one last time before walking back and placing them back in their box. I'd wait to debut them until we met with Davis again, really make May laugh. Or annoyed.

X X X

Henry had been in the basement by the time I woke up to leave on Saturday, two days later. He'd given me my phone back because I'd been responsible and told him the truth before I looked for Dory, and was letting me head out. That made me feel kind of shitty, getting called 'responsible' for lying through my teeth. Still, in for a penny in for a pound: I'd written a quick note to say I would be hanging out with May so he shouldn't worry, then bolted in my car. For once, I was running early for an appointment, and I wasn't going to lose that.

And, for once, I didn't. I got there way before she did, which I hoped BlackGuilmon would be happy about. I was willing to bet that the opportunity to be out and about after being held down and captured the entire night before would make him a little more friendly. Glad I couldn't actually put money on that, because I would have lost big. I put on my father's goggles, then took a deep breath and entered the warehouse. The moment I entered the building, I got a less than friendly greeting, in the form of an insult from my 'partner.' "Finally. If you were any later, I was going to decide you really are worthless!"

"Always a charmer, BG," Huckmon said from beside the Digimon who was strapped down to a cart. The mere mention of that nickname made BlackGuilmon bare his teeth in a growl. If he was free, he probably would have been trying and failing to attack the other Digidestined Digimon.

"Be nice, Huckmon. He was basically handcuffed all night," Davis said as he watched Huckmon poke the other Digimon's nose. "That can't be good for his already bad personality."

That of course, only made him growl more. "At least he didn't kidnap anyone," I said, announcing my presence. Davis' head snapped towards me, but Huckmon didn't seem surprised. Digimon noses. The human of the pair glanced at the ground for a moment, hair obscuring his face. I didn't buy his whole 'want to be friends' act for a second, but man was he milking it. "So I guess that makes two of us."

Huckmon glanced at Davis, then over at me. He frowned, then jumped forward. "So, I like the goggles. They look like they were made for you," he said, turning his frown upside down. "I still can't believe your father is in the Digital World!"

"I am also surprised," Davis said evenly, his face rising to present a military calm. "The Director didn't mention it to me; I would have found you much faster if it had been in my files."

"Why is that?" I wondered as I wandered over to BlackGuilmon and patted his head. He growled again, but I kept doing it anyways.

Huckmon moved to speak again, but Davis cut him off. "I'd prefer to say all of this only once." He pulled out his 3D and checked the time. "Where is she? I thought you were the chronically late one."

"I don't know. You didn't plant a tracker on her when you kidnapped her?" He shot me a look when I asked that, but I just gave him a smirk in return. The room got real quiet after that, other than Huckmon trying to annoy BlackGuilmon, and BlackGuilmon giving the white Digimon exactly what he was looking for.

Finally, the telltale whine of May's jeep came up near the building. It shut off, and a moment later May came in, clutching an annoyed, small Digimon to her chest. She glanced over at me, a face I didn't recognize across her features. She came to a stop near Davis and me. "If those weren't your dad's, I'd be making fun of you for wanting to cosplay as Tai everyday," she said, letting a smile come. She put Dorimon down and came over to give me a side hug.

"I was worried I was going to be alone here," I told her, returning the hug.

She laughed and shook her head. "Come on. Saving your dad from the Digital World? What kind of friend wouldn't help?" she asked.

"And maybe your parents can help you figure all this out, Dummy!" Dorimon shouted as she bounded over to my feet.

I glared at her. "You are the same size and shape as a soccer ball, you know that, right?" I inquired. She just stuck her tongue out at me, calling my bluff. "Stupid ugly dog."

"Well, now we can finally get to business," Davis said, clapping his hands once to draw our attention. "Follow me." He walked behind BlackGuilmon, still strapped to a Home Depot cart, and began to push; Huckmon jumped on top of BlackGuilmon's back, much to the Virus Digimon's growing annoyance. May, Dorimon, and I followed anxiously, waiting for that whole situation to blow up.

It didn't take long for Davis to lead us where we were going, bringing us through large double doors into a room with a computer on a podium and projector hanging from the ceiling. There were two doors, one in either corner on the wall opposite the door we had just entered. Davis brought BlackGuilmon's cart to a stop, then walked over to podium and began typing. After a moment, the projector came on and the wall was adorned with large letters that said 'D-CARD.' "The Digimon Center of American Real-world Defense. D-CARD is the United States' government's Digital defense and spy network. We've been operating for the past thirty or so years in direct response to the Shinjuku Digimon incident, but we've only become a major player in the conflict in the last fifteen or so years when Director Gethen took over."

"Wait, the Shinjuku Incident really _was_ Digimon?" I asked, stunned. "I was _right!?_ "

Davis nodded, then looked down at the computer again. The projector screen froze and he typed for a few moments. "According to the redacted file I found, it appears your father – this Takato – was one of the Digidestined responsible for stopping some kind of Digital Creature." I was right! My dad _is_ a Digidestined! He shut the window and unfroze the projector. "The footage of Mega Level Digimon in action created a new arms race; one mega level Digimon is worth far more than almost any weapon humanity has developed."

"But if Digimon were so readily visible, why does no one think they're real?" May asked, while I wondered what my dad's Digimon was.

I snapped out of it. "Huh, that's... that's right!" I shouted as my brain comprehended what she was saying. "You said there was footage, so how come no one has seen it?"

"It really isn't that hard to convince people of things, especially for the government," Davis explained simply with a shrug. "People didn't want to have their entire universe shifted, so not long after the event all the governments got together and said that it was a mass hallucination caused by military testing. People would rather believe it was a mistake than believe super powered god-dinosaurs from the internet were real. So they decided to believe the mistake. Besides, Digimon didn't really appear all that often back then. More than now, but not all that much. With a little international effort and people's own fear of the unknown, the entire world was willing to settle into the reality that it was a mass hallucination and the footage was doctored."

"It can't be that easy!" I protested. I gestured at the growling, black Digimon to my left. "People wouldn't just ignore what actually happened!"

"We believed it," May pointed out slowly. She sighed. "And Henry knew about Digimon. He obviously thought it was safer if we didn't know."

"Pretty pointless if you ask me," Dorimon said from the ground. She laughed. "You both were destined to do this!"

"That's actually why I'm surprised that the Director didn't tell me your father was a Digidestined before now," Davis interjected. He leaned against the podium. "Unlike Tamers, there aren't many Digidestined, but there are a few patterns they've found. For one, the odds of someone becoming a Digidestined increases if they have a direct familial connection to Digimon. For instance, your connection to Henry and your Grandfather, May."

"What do you mean?" May asked.

Davis nodded. "Right. I forgot you didn't know – it's so widely known in this world," Davis explained, nodding. "Your grandfather, he helped create Digimon. He was part of an A.I. development crew operating out of Stanford with funding from the Japanese government. They accidentally created the Digimon. Your uncle, Dr. Wong, helps to maintain different firewalls we use to protect our Digital demi-fields. That made us certain you were a Digidestined."

"So Henry is _really_ involved in all this," I muttered with a frown. I looked up at May. "He can't know. He'd never let us do this."

"Yeah, G-Man thought the same thing," Huckmon interjected, leaping on top of the podium. The wood creaked dangerously.

"Yeah, your uncle is a bit of a weird worry wart," Dorimon agreed, glancing up at May. "And if he finds out I'll _never_ be big again!"

"Always turning it to what's important," I muttered, drawing an annoyed look from Dorimon.

BlackGuilmon scoffed. "Digivolution is all that is important," he growled from his cart.

"You would think that," Huckmon said, rolling his eyes. Smoke began to rise from BlackGuilmon's nostrils as he glared at the white Digimon.

"Moving on," Davis said, pressing a button on the computer. The screen changed to an image of the 3D with a number of functions labeled beside it. "You already know that the 3D can track your Digimon through the secondary app, which has the suffix '444d.' It has multiple other functions, though. The most important one is labeled as 'Defense Alert.' This engages automatically when you are fighting wild Digimon in the real world. It generates a dense fog made up of Digital particulate that allows Digimon to load data upon killing another Digimon. It also hides our battles from the public eye when we engage the enemy. However, you need to activate it when you're fighting an enemy agent."

"Wait, we're going to be fighting other people?" May asked. She shook her head. "I don't know how I feel about that."

"They're all spies that have killed people before. That we're children won't mean anything to them – it's policy to kill or capture any enemy Digidestined. They're too valuable for someone else to have, even with a dead Digimon."

My blood froze. "Wait, someone is... people are going to try and kill us?"

"Yes. But that's why you're here. With training, and me keeping an eye on you, you'll survive," Davis said, trying to reassure us. It didn't really work.

"Are we going to have to kill people!?" May asked worriedly, not liking this idea at all.

"No way, May!" Dorimon shouted.

"If they get in our way," BlackGuilmon said darkly.

"Only if it's necessary. Usually it's preferable to capture them for questioning," Davis explained with a shrug. "Especially if they're Digidestined, but they're usually kept in their home country. Like I said, too valuable."

"... Why are we so valuable?" I asked, deciding to table the whole 'killing people' thing for now. Jesus, that feels like a weird way to put _that_ ; if I had a therapist, they'd have a field day with that one.

Davis nodded and pointed at the next function. "Key."

"The unreadable data?" May asked in confusion. Her eyes sparked with excitement as she understood that we were about to learn exactly what it was.

"Yes. The rumor is that there were three Digidestined about twenty years ago in Japan," Davis began. He looked over at me. "Given what the Director promised you, I'm assuming your dad was one of them." He crossed his arms and leaned against the podium again. "Apparently, they used their Digivices to open a portal to the Digital World, then put up a wall after getting a bunch of Digimon out of our world. Then they put up the Firewall."

"What Firewall?" BlackGuilmon asked, confused.

"It separates the real world from the Digital World. Completely. Nothing can get in or out. We were able to make Demi-planes like the Nurseries, and some Digimon slip in there. Other Digimon are born there," Huckmon explained. He jumped down and poked BlackGuilmon's nose again. "Like you, me, and Dorimon!"

"The eggheads think that the 3D's were designed to undo that, but only for Digidestined. From what we've found on mine, hitting Ultimate unlocks another section of hidden data. It looks like mine holds a third of the data."

May's grin widened. "So if the three of us hit Ultimate, we'll have the entire Key data!" she shouted excitedly.

I nodded. "And we can enter the Digital World to save my dad," I muttered, a smile growing across my face, too.

"And give D-CARD the biggest advantage that can exist in this war – control over the Digital World itself," Davis explained. "Which is why we have to get your Merge rates up so you can Digivolve to Ultimate."

"So, how do we do that?" May asked. "And how do we know how far we can Digivolve?"

Huckmon took this one. "You Digivolve by being good friends. Merge rate is pretty much just how good of friends you are," he explained from on top of BlackGuilmon, who looked about ready to murder all of us here. "It's not exact, but we hit Champion at like twenty percent, and Ultimate at eighty."

"Twenty! We hit that!" May shouted, picking up Dorimon and staring her in the eyes.

"I can get even _bigger_ than Dorumon!?" the soccer ball screamed excitedly.

BlackGuilmon growled at the high pitched noise, and Huckmon reached down to cover his ears. My Digimon glanced up, unsure whether to be angry or thankful. He decided on postponing the decision. "We haven't even hit five," I muttered, tossing a glare at BlackGuilmon. "How am I going to fix that?"

"If your goals align, it helps," Davis explained simply. "He wants to Digivolve, and so do you. That should do something."

I didn't want to thank the kidnapper, so I just didn't respond. Besides, I knew that wasn't enough. That was already a goal we shared, and we still sat ugly at zero. That meant something else had to change, and I knew BlackGuilmon wouldn't be the one to do it. That meant I had to make one of his goals my goal, or I'd never find my parents.

"Regardless, we'll be training you from now on every day after school, and all day on Saturday. You need to learn how to fight with your Digimon, and more importantly to fight. The biggest target when in a Digimon fight is always the human – we're weak and defenseless," Davis continued after a moment. "So you'll be learning how to survive, no matter what. Weapons training, martial arts, and cardio."

"Ugh," I groaned.

"Oh, that'll be easy for me," May said with a smirk towards me. "Unlike him, I run."

"It won't be easy for either of you," Davis corrected, and it was my turn to smirk at May. "Unless you can sprint for 10 miles, you'll both be vomiting early on." May and I both paled at that.

"You're exaggerating, right?" May asked. Davis didn't respond. " _Right!?_ "

"Make no mistake, you'll be killing Digimon. Maybe people," Davis said, and we got even more pale. "But only ever murderers. People who don't feel bad trying to kill kids younger than us; I was twelve the first time someone tried to kill me." He walked over to BlackGuilmon's cart and began to unbind him. "For now, we'll focus on how you fight with Wild Digimon. Each of you have an opponent in there." He gestured at the two doors on the other wall.

BlackGuilmon stood up as the last binding was undone and he whirled to glare at Davis. The government agent just glared into the reptilian eyes calmly, completely unafraid. The Digimon turned and marched towards one door. "Are you coming, _Tasuke_?"

I glanced at May. "See you on the other side?" she supplied nervously.

"I mean, I'm not worried about you. Dorimon may be ugly, but she at least listens," I replied as I reached BlackGuilmon. "Unlike some people."

BlackGuilmon didn't even look away from the door as he said, "I'd listen if you had anything worthwhile to say in combat."

"Someone's not looking at his own issues," Huckmon whispered. _That_ earned a glare from BlackGuilmon.

"He is a nasty little troll," May agreed, meeting the glare that turned on her. "He tried to kill Dorimon and eat her the moment they met... Maybe _troll_ is being too nice, now that I think about it." Dorimon nodded and stuck her tongue out, not caring even the slightest for the growing rage of the other Digimon. I shoved BlackGuilmon forward before the green flames glowing in his mouth could launch at my best friend, forcing us through the doors and into a small arena.

We were surrounded by some kind of reinforced glass or plastic, letting us see across the room and into a similar arena where May was standing beside Dorimon, who was currently breaking out of a Digivolution egg as Dorumon. And standing on the other side of them – "Tasuke," BlackGuilmon growled, and I turned to see the same creature on the opposite end of the room. It was a rookie sized robot Digimon that looked like a red, silver, and blue stag beetle with human hands, a large speaker in its chest, and glowing yellow eyes. "Ballistamon!" I shouted as I recognized it, not even bothering to glance at my 3D. I excitedly slapped BlackGuilmon's shoulder and his growling turned into an astonished noise."BlackGuilmon, that's one of the few NoneType Digimon!"

"Could you be more of a _nerd_?" BlackGuilmon growled mockingly. "Your precious TV show doesn't mean anything in the real world."

I decided to bite back a comment about the whole 'friendship = Digivolution' thing, that he couldn't Digivolve without me, and that I'd been right about every other Digimon so far. I hoped that helped the Merge rate increase... but I doubted it. "All that matters is it's Data to load!" BlackGuilmon continued before rushing the Ballistamon.

"A brute pet for these brute humans. I suppose I'll have to Load you, then," the Ballistamon snarled as he lowered his head and set his feet.

"Wait, you have to remember to dodge its -"

"Ram Slammer!" BlackGuilmon was tossed into the air by the horn before he landed unceremoniously at my feet in an injured heap.

"Will you listen for once?" I snapped as I took out my 3D and cards. I swiped an Energy card and BlackGuilmon's eyes shot open. "Maybe if you did, you wouldn't keep getting knocked back on the first attack!" I glanced up and yelped. I grabbed hold of BlackGuilmon, who had stumbled to his feet, and tore him to the side. A burst of sonic energy coming from the Ballistamon hit the ground where I'd been a moment earlier, pulverizing the stone. BlackGuilmon and I stumbled out of the way and turned towards the Ballistamon. "Listen, I have a few ideas that can help. Just let me help."

"And what, you let my hard earned data leave before I can load it?" BlackGuilmon asked spitefully. "You're too soft to be useful! I'll never Digivolve with you around!"

I wanted to snap back, but we were forced to dodge another attack. I bet that the kidnapper was getting a kick out of it, watching us flounder because we don't like each other. But BlackJerkmon was right. I was thinking like a kid watching a TV show, not like someone that had almost been killed by Digimon, who'd been kidnapped and blackmailed by the government, who had to save his dad from an alien world. I had to do whatever it took to save him, and that meant seeing eye to eye with BlackJer – BlackGuilmon. "Then load his data. Load all the data you want," I said, standing up straight. "I'll help you load the data of every Digimon that attacks us, wild or Digidestined, and then we'll go to the Digital World and we'll load enough to Digivolve _past_ Mega. Just listen to me or we won't make it past this training!"

BlackGuilmon glanced at me, studying to see if I was telling the truth. That a 'Gogglehead' was willing to do what needed to be done. "If you help me protect May and find my dad, I'll let you load any enemy's data," I reaffirmed. I placed my hand over my chest, as if that would bind the oath. "We won't make it to the Digital World if we're dead, and they can't kill us if they are."

He clenched his jaw, then turned back to the Ballistamon. "Then what do we do?" he growled begrudgingly.

I resisted the urge to sigh in relief. "It's big and made of metal, and its legs don't have that many joints. Simple mechanics says it won't be easy for it to move or turn around. So get behind it and..."

"Then I can tear it apart," BlackGuilmon finished, his face splitting into an, honestly, terrifying grin. "Have anything to help with that?"

"Digi-Modify! Hypersonic activate!" I shouted before swiping another card through. "Hyperwings activate!" BlackGuilmon turned into a blur as white wings shot from his back and he rocketed forward, zigzagging across the field above the Ballistamon to avoid the blasts of sonic energy the Digimon was launching at it. The reinforced glass creaked and shuddered from the repeated hits, but held firm. I was safe now, too; it didn't even notice me.

"Won't you just stand still!?" the Ballistamon snapped as he launched another sonic blast.

BlackGuilmon simply laughed cruelly and turned on a dime, rocketing behind the Ballistamon before it could turn around. "Rock Crusher!" BlackGuilmon's claws began to glow a bright white as he charged the Ballistamon again, slamming into it at full speed. The digital metal making up the Digimon's body cracked under the pressure and shattered, the blade like claws piercing into the inner body. BlackGuilmon tore his claws back and opened his jaw wide. "Pyro Grenade!" The green sphere flew right into the Ballistamon's back, through the gaping hole in the armor, and it exploded violently. The Ballistamon shrieked in pain as it toppled over, the explosion destroying its already perilous balance and making it slam face first onto the ground. BlackGuilmon laughed excitedly and flew onto the Ballistamon's back, a wild look in his eyes.

"P-please! No!" the injured Digimon begged, glancing up at me as his data glitched out from the damage.

I stared at the pleading eyes of the Digimon, who had done nothing wrong but get captured by D-CARD. Then I forced myself to think of how it had attacked me, too, and how creatures like that were surrounding my father, maybe right then. So I looked over at BlackGuilmon. "Do it."

BlackGuilmon's face split into a pleased grin before his eyes returned to the wounded Digimon on the ground. "You don't have to tell me twice," he said, green flames glowing behind his teeth once more. "I was hungry anyways. Pyro Grenade!"

The explosion vaporized the Ballistamon under his feet, and BlackGuilmon's feet hit the ground. He was surrounded by a cloud of black and red data flowing into his body, his eyes shut and a calm, content smile on his face for a moment before it ended and the wild agitation returned. His eyes opened and he looked at me, slowly blinking his reptilian eyes. "I'm glad to see you aren't completely hopeless," he told me, plodding over slowly. He bit the inside of his cheek, then tacked on as an afterthought: "Partner."

"Good job, all of you," Davis said, voice ringing out from some kind of intercom. "You seem to have a good rudimentary grasp on how the cards work and how to analyze enemy Digimon. You are free to go. Except BlackGuilmon – you will be staying here until a sufficient cover is set up." The walls of the arena slid into the floor, letting the angrily de-Digivolving Dorimon and May walk towards us. May was watching us with what looked like a frown, but she hid it before I could be sure. BlackGuilmon growled in annoyance at the fact he wasn't allowed to leave. "The rest of you, remember – don't tell anyone, even Dr. Wong. We'll discuss our cover tomorrow."

"I swear, if he makes our cover 'friends,' I'm going to kill him," I muttered as May got close.

"I wouldn't bet against it," May replied with a laugh.

Dorimon groaned and said, "Great, now we've got Dummy to hang out with _and_ a sad kidnapper?" She sighed. "At least we don't have to hang out with Jerkmon."

"I can hear you, you morsel," BlackGuilmon growled at the tiny Digimon.

Dorimon glanced up, bored. "So? You won't touch me. Dummy told you not to!"

"I'm thinking about it," I said, earning an angry look and slap on the shoulder from May. "What? I'm joking! Mostly joking! Probably joking!" That earned me another hit, this one in the gut with a fist. "100% joking! Jeez, are you holding a roll of quarters or something?"

"Now that I think about it, staying here is preferable to staying with any of you," BlackGuilmon remarked as I gasped for air. He glared directly at May. "You already infect your Digimon with weakness, so I'd be worried about my own power around you."

"Miserable troll," May snapped.

BlackGuilmon just grinned at getting a rise out of her.

Oh, this was going to be a thing, I could already tell. Great. Just great.

 _Oh, jeez, I don't like this. It's not okay to Load the data of a Digimon if you're Digidestined. Unless their Digivices are different, it won't help anyone Digivolve, and it just ends up killing a Digimon! The strength it gives a Digimon isn't that much compared to the friends you can make either. I wouldn't want anyone to Load a Digimon's data, not even to save me. And if it's my own kid, that's even worse! I hope May and Dorimon can get him back on track, or that BlackGuilmon and Taj will figure it out on their own. Still, I'm getting a bad feeling about this._

 _Hopefully I feel better after the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


	8. Keeping Secrets:A Digital World Message!

**AN:**

 **Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a while, but I've been pretty busy. Last month I was sick, and then doing job applications, then interviews, then helping with my family's new dog, then watching my sister's competition out of state, then more job stuff, then writing Arc of Redemption, then figuring out the exact way to write this to set up the next arc, and so on and so forth. But it is here, now.**

 **Anyways, I hope all of you are doing well.**

 **Now, for responses:**

 **To Smartalec121: You did mention that before, but I'm glad you like it enough to mention it again. The Digimon interacting with humans that aren't there partner is one of my favorite parts of writing this, so far, because I feel like Digidestined kind of fall into this... groove with their own Digimon, eventually. But someone else's Digimon is something you don't get as used to. As for Davis and Huckmon, they have kind of hit a plateau in their merge rate, but only like 5 people post Tamers have even hit 80% and gotten to Ultimate, and he's been doing this for almost 5 years. Getting past the 80s would be a big moment for him and/or Huckmon, and would probably be because of one or both of them fundamentally altering part of who they are and what they believe. Taj and BlackGuilmon... I think that's going to be interesting.**

 **Now, I hope you enjoy this next chapter of Tamers: Zero/Two!**

 _ **Episode 8: Keeping Secrets: A Digital World Message!**_

I hit the ground a lot harder than I would have liked, and even on the training mat that meant I knew I was going to be sore in the morning. Still, I couldn't let that stop me, and I forced myself to roll to the side to avoid the incoming kick. I pushed up to my feet and slapped the next kick to the side, grabbing hold of my opponent's ankle before he could get away. It threw him off balance enough that May could rush in. She punched at his head, but he was narrowly able to move his head out of the way. I yanked on his ankle to try and destabilize him more, but he was apparently a ninja. He jumped with my pull, avoiding another attack from May and shoving his foot into my chest. I hit the ground with our opponent standing on top of me, pushing all the air from my lungs.

The Batman-wannabe turned and slammed his fist into May's gut as she rushed forward to help me. She doubled over, and his arm reached around to the back of her neck. His leg came off of my chest and it swung around, catching her ankle as he shoved her forward with his arm. She yelped as she flipped and slammed onto the ground face first. We both moved to get up, but our opponent attacked us each for good measure, catching me in the gut and wrapping his hand around May's neck again.

It was at this point that BlackGuilmon broke out laughing just outside of the arena, his harsh laughter directed at me first and foremost. Davis grimaced above us and reached down to help us up. I slapped his hand away and stood up on my own, ignoring the absurd pain in the small of my back. May didn't slap the hand away like I did, but she did push herself up while glaring at him.

Davis lowered his hand and took a step back so he could see the both of us, the panting, lightly bruised both of us. "You really thought you had him that time!" BlackGuilmon laughed. I glanced over, glaring at the claw pointing at us. I think I was starting to understand his position on killing Digimon. Starting with _him_.

I took a deep breath and ignored him. I needed him to find my dad, after all.

May, however, did not have the same need for – "You annoying little troll!" Yeah, that one works pretty well. "How about we watch you and Huckmon fight next, full evolution? Sound fun?"

BlackGuilmon's laughter vanished, replaced by that of Dorimon and Huckmon. "Only if I get to fight you first," he snarled. "Anything to get rid of the anchor holding us back."

"You're willing to leave then, Merge Rate 0?"

"You... Hag!"

Davis put his hands up, quieting May before she could say anything more. At the same time, Huckmon had jumped on top of BlackGuilmon's head, throwing his balance off and causing him to quiet down or fall down. He chose to quiet down. Davis glanced between the Digimon and us, then began to speak. "You both need to understand something important about a fight, especially one with trained government agents: you two working together, being smart, is the only way that you'll survive. Don't go for the kill, go for the stall. If you can get space, strengthen your Digimon then stall until they can destroy the other Digimon. If you aren't together, stall until the other can arrive to help or I can get there. Winning isn't getting rid of the other person, especially when you're so new at all this, it's surviving." He nodded. "But you've improved a lot. You both need to focus on your balance more and keeping in a defensive stance even when you're attacking, but I think that the two of you working together could survive a few fights."

BlackGuilmon tossed Huckmon off of his head and stared at me without speaking. I'd known him for a very short time and already knew that was either good, or he was planning on eating me. I hadn't known him long enough to tell which. "It is too bad your growth cannot be as obvious as Digivolution, Tasuke," the dinosaur said. He cocked his head to the side. "It appears that, unlike the whimpering moralist female, you can grow."

I shook my head at May before she could scream an insult at him. "At this point, he's just trying to get a rise out of you. Are you really going to give him that satisfaction?" She shut her mouth, but kept glaring daggers at BlackGuilmon. "And BG? Cool it."

"I said not to call me that!" he snapped. Literally. His jaws snapped together like he was a crocodile.

"You don't like that, BG?" Dorimon asked, glancing up at him.

Huckmon snickered. "Aw, I'm sorry about that, BG."

Realizing what was happening, he turned and walked away. "Would you please stop taunting the edgelord Digimon that thinks he's the personification of death?" Davis asked Huckmon as we walked over to the Digimon. BlackGuilmon was still pouting in the corner, smoke rising from his nostrils as he barely contained his murderous tendencies. I guess he could learn.

Huckmon groaned, "But it's _fun_." He sighed and pouted at the ground. "Okay."

"Is that everything you need today, _Boss?_ " May asked with narrowed eyes.

Davis glanced over at us and frowned. "I... One more thing. You need to come up with a good reason that you're never home."

"What do you suggest, Kidnapper?" I wondered.

He frowned at me, but nodded. "Well, you are getting paid for this; officially, the both of you are government employees. It's hidden behind a dozen layers of security clearances, but you are. The best lies contain a kernel of truth, so say you have a job. It's what I do."

"A job... Even Henry would let me stay out for stuff like that," I said as I thought it through.

May bit her lip. "It might work." She looked up at him. "And when do we get this money we're being paid?"

"You'll get all of it once your training is done, then you'll be paid on a regular schedule," he explained. He absently scratched Huckmon behind the ears. "It's more money than two sixteen year olds could conceivably spend on their own."

"Oof. He lacks imagination," May whispered to me, and I had to fight to keep a massive laugh in.

Davis, seeing our attention had been lost, sighed. "Go home. We've done enough for today."

"Aw, I didn't get to Digivolve today!" Dorimon groaned when May picked her up, the little puffball's pouting taking up half her body. "May, come on! Let me Digivolve!"

"No. You get angry when you have to change back," May said. We turned away from Davis without a word, May heading outside and me checking on Chuckles in the corner.

"We are wasting our time with her," he said as I got closer. The reptilian eyes turned and locked onto me. "Why are we not loading data as we speak?"

"One, she's my best friend, so shut it," I ordered, grabbing the back of his head and shaking it just enough to annoy him. "Second, do you think we could beat an Ultimate level Digimon?" He was conspicuously silent on that matter. "And third, are there even any Digimon around right now other than you three?"

BlackGuilmon narrowed his eyes. "Well, not that I can smell, but..."

"Then this is what we're doing," I said simply. "I may not want to work with Davis, but his boss is my only way of finding my way to my dad, and to finding a way into the Digital World. You know, kind of an all you can eat buffet of data to load? So play nice."

"Neither of those words make sense."

I sighed. "Just... wait. I'm sure someone will try to kill us soon enough." That seemed to get him in a better mood, so I just quit while I was ahead and left.

"Goodbye, Tasuke."

I glanced back. He wasn't looking at me, but BlackGuilmon had definitely said it. "See you, BlackGuilmon."

"What took you so long?" May asked as I got out. Dorimon was still in her arms, grumbling loudly about how unfair it was she didn't get to Digivolve today. "Did the troll demand a toll?"

"Come on, May. He's...um..."

"You were going to say 'Not that bad,' then stopped yourself when you realized."

"When I realized that most of the time he is, yes," I admitted. I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Ugh... I thought partner Digimon were supposed to be fun and nice, not homicidal and cruel."

"And Digidestined aren't supposed to be kidnappers or government agents, and yet..." May pointed out. She shrugged. "For as much as the shows get right, it got just as much wrong. I guess we should be thankful Dorimon here isn't a massive jerk like your partner."

"As if that could happen," Dorimon scoffed. "I'm the best, so obviously I'd be this great."

"And somehow you're _still_ the most humble of our Digimon," I muttered, drawing a grin from Dorimon.

"Just part of my charm."

"Maybe not the humblest by much, though," May remarked as she scratched the Digimon behind the ears.

After a moment, May looked up at me. "So, what now?"

I shrugged. "Wanna head back to my house? We can finish our homework and hang out – you know, _without_ trying to go kung fu on the kidnapper."

"KayKay," May said with a grin. "I tell you what, I'll go easy and make it a fair fight this time: I'll play as D'Vorah, you play as Erron."

"Gee, thanks."

Director Gethen sat down at his private dining table in the office building, enjoying the smell of the delivered mutton. "Ah, aren't lunch meetings just the best, Agent Estevez?"

The young man frowned from the other side of the table, picking absently at the meal. Gethen sighed inwardly; these children had no taste for the finer things. "So, how goes the progress of our newest agents? Everything is proceeding as I had hoped, yes?"

"They aren't bad," Davis said. He pushed his food to the side, and Huckmon leaped up to devour it. "May is better. She's in better shape, but that will even out eventually. Both of them are learning pretty quickly. I passed them for basic hand to hand today, and I'll begin explaining the use of Digiweapons and how to deal with enemy agents tomorrow." He paused. "I don't know if they could handle anyone in a one on one fight, so I'm going to have them stick close together from here on out."

Gethen wiped his face with his napkin, then inquired, "And what of the Digimon? Or your Digivice? Some of the boys in R&D believed that true Digivices would react with one another if in close range."

Davis shrugged. "Well, the Digimon are... very different. Dorimon seems to have a singular lack of focus on anything, but at least she has an attitude we can work with," he pointed out.

"And the Hazard?"

Huckmon cut in, now. "Oh, BG is a real piece of work, G-Man," he said with a laugh. "Unlike the fun fuzzball, he has focus. It just happens to be on how every Digimon looks like a three course meal."

"Huckmon isn't even exaggerating, Sir. The only good sign I can see is that he's only not attacking Dorimon as a favor to Tasuke," Davis explained.

Gethen nodded. "So Merge Rate has increased?"

"Tasuke and BlackGuilmon are currently at 5 percent, Director. That's an improvement from zero."

Gethen chuckled. "Ever the optimist, Agent Estevez."

"May and Dorimon's has also increased to about thirty, but Champion Digivolution probably won't happen until she's put face to face with something that triggers the event. And given how adverse May is to letting Dorimon remain in her Rookie form, I have no idea how much stress that might take." Davis poked Huckmon to get him to stop attacking the empty plate, then returned to the conversation. "We have a pair that want nothing more than to Digivolve but can't get along well enough to do it, and a pair that can Digivolve but one of them wants nothing to do with the process. That's the issue we'll have to deal with first."

"Yes, that will have to be dealt with soon... First, tell me about Tasuke's relationship with the Hazard. That seems the more... difficult situation," Gethen ordered after a moment's pause.

"BlackGuilmon and Tasuke have a very... contentious relationship. BlackGuilmon belittles him for the slightest mercy, even for having friends. He believes everything else is a distraction from his attempts to reach mega." Davis put his chin on his hand and sighed. "But in his own weird way he seems to actually care about Tasuke. At the very least, he wants him to be safe and strong. I think for his reptilian brain that's the closest he can get to friendship."

"So the issue is..?"

"They don't want the same things. Tasuke's decision to hold on to his bonds weakens the one he has with BlackGuilmon."

"I see... Then I believe this issue will be solved when our enemies begin to learn of the three of you." He placed his fork over another chunk of goat and speared it through. "'Friendships' are strongest not when united by similar desires, but by similar enemies. In fact, this should solve both Digidestined's Digivolution issues."

Davis surged to his feet. "Sir, you can't be suggesting what I think you're suggesting!"

Gethen stopped raising the goat to his mouth and fixed a cold glare on his agent. "Was that an order, a suggestion, or was I just hearing things?"

Davis faltered and quickly sat down, pulling his hands into his lap to stare at them. "You were just hearing things, Sir."

"That's what I thought." He took the bite of goat and nodded. "Now, I suppose it is time for you to head home. Don't want your mother worrying." The Digidestined got up to leave. "And Agent Estevez – you've done well so far. Please, do not fail to continue to impress me."

The boy stared at Gethen for a while before nodding. "Yes, Sir. Goodbye, Sir." He turned to Huckmon and patted his shoulder. "Come on, let's get going." He left without another word, silent as he thought of what the Director was soon going to do.

Gethen tented his hands as the agent left the room, then pulled out his work laptop and opened a few files. "Let's see here... who would be the best test run for our baby Digidestined? Certainly not HYPNOS, they would send their Ultimates the first chance they had... Give it a few months, they could be ready. Then..." He grinned and shut the laptop. This could be more than a good chance. This was an opportunity to plug a leak. If the children were strong enough to handle that, they would be well on their way to becoming real assets, not simply unfulfilled potential.

He moved into the main server files of D-CARD, keying in the name of the agent he was thinking of. The computer processed for a moment, then revealed the individual. "Agent Derek Verrater. Partner Digimon: Goblimon/Ogremon." He sneered at the man's face, an arrogant blonde man with gray eyes. "Oh, the list of agencies to whom you have leaked our secrets. The agents I have lost because of you. At this point, the misinformation I have been feeding you is of less use than your death would be."

He sighed. "My only regret is that I likely won't be the one to personally educate you on how foolish that decision was."

"Henry, we -"

That was all he'd gotten before the screen of his D-Power had returned to static, cutting off the message. He hadn't even known the D-Powers could send or receive text like that, but maybe they had managed to find a Digignome or someone else who could have helped them finagle a way to send one. Maybe his research had done something that connected them for a moment. He still wasn't sure. And given how little progress he had made in ten years, he wasn't sure he'd ever know.

But just knowing that his old friends were still alive... he couldn't help but feel happy. He had never wanted to admit it, but there was always a part of him that had been worried. Terrified, even, that they hadn't survived their ten year trek throughout the Digital World. It was a dangerous place to be, even with a Digimon by your side. And given how easy it was to get separated there, that wasn't even a guarantee. On top of that, Henry couldn't exactly see Takato sending a message if Rika wasn't okay; he'd be too busy trying to find her if anything had happened. Unless she was – Henry shook his head: he wouldn't let himself think that. No, right now he was going to get _both_ of them back, and the Digimon.

But that would require finding out what had just happened, so it was with an exasperated sigh that Henry popped open the frame of his D-Power for the millionth time and began to examine the hardware first for something he had missed – or that had changed. Digignomes were basically magic, after all, so who knows? –, checking the transceiver first. Once he was done with this, he'd let his computer analyze the software for the rest of the corrupted message and so see if anything was downloaded that would let it receive messages. Or, hopefully, send them. He was sure Takato and Rika would really want to hear about how their kid was doing after all this time.

He leaned in with his magnifying glasses and used one of his tools to push a wire out of the way, getting to the receiver resting above the screen. It looked... the same. Nothing had changed there, which was expected. As far as Henry knew, Digignomes had a much harder time interacting with the real world since he and the other Tamers had set up the Firewall. Digivices kept appearing, that was obvious, but he had heard the governments were building them, now. Not quite the same.

He moved on to check the rest of the hardware, but was unsurprised when nothing showed up there, either. Made sense; if anything was going to have changed, it would have been the signal transceiver. He replaced the shell of his D-Power and pulled out the cord he used to connect it to the computer tower he had set up in the basement, disconnected from the network. The computer booted up and began to scan through the D-Power's files, a dense chunk of Digicode that it would then have to translate to a human computer language he could actually understand. He'd compare that to his original scan and last month's to, hopefully, find the message and however it was sent.

Until then, he thought he could hear the door upstairs opening. He stood up and stretched for a moment, then walked upstairs. Tasuke was finally home from hanging out with May and their new friend, this Davis kid who had just transferred into their school. He supposed he could allow it, as long as it didn't interfere with school. Besides, it gave him more time to examine the D-Power. As he reached the top of the stairs he walked through and locked it behind him. "Tasuke, what are you..?"

Henry was staring in shock at the goggles I was taking off of my head. Damn. I thought I might have had enough time to hide them. If these goggles had been with my dad when he'd entered the Digital World, Henry might be able to see through our secret right then and there. He'd know that we knew, and then everything would go down hill. "May, head upstairs," he said hoarsely. May and Dorimon gave me a glance, then did as he said.

I clutched the goggles tight and glanced at the ground. "Hey, Henry."

"Where did you find them?" He held his hand out and gestured at the goggles. "Tasuke, those are your _father's_."

I grimaced inwardly. Great. "I... He gave them to me," I lied, desperately hoping that he would buy it. Given how much he wanted me to believe my parents love me, I think "In Japan. He left them behind with me."

"He... he gave them to you?" Henry asked. He shook his head. "Then... where have they been since then?"

I wasn't quite sure, but I thought... he was buying it. Maybe. "I was seven. I thought you'd take them." I shrugged. "Besides I... I liked having a secret. Something Dad gave me without anyone else knowing. And then when I stopped believing he'd come back, I just didn't want another reminder of him. I threw them in the box with the cards and forgot about them."

Henry was quiet for a while, thinking through what I said while I chanted _Buyitbuyitbuyitbuyitbuyit_ in my head. Finally, he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Tasuke, does this mean you believe they're coming back now?"

I froze. "I believe that they want to. I don't know if I believe that they can," I admitted, skirting around the knowledge they were literally trapped in another world. And then I added something that I knew would make Henry stop asking. I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to cry, adding to the real ones that came up with the idea of what I was about to say. I looked away, guilty I would even _think_ about adding this. "If they're even alive." God, that's a shitty thing to do.

Henry's face softened and he rushed forward, pulling me into a hug. "Tasuke... I – it's okay," he said, patting my head softly. "I know it's been a long time, but I know they aren't dead. I'm willing to bet my life on it."

I hugged him back. "Sorry," I muttered.

"No, it – it's normal to wonder," he said, pulling us apart and clutching my shoulders. "It's been a long time. But they will _never_ stop trying to get to you. And nothing in this world or any other could kill them before they got back to you."

I glanced away from him. I knew that. They were Digidestined, ones who had been at it for... I guess God and Henry only know how long. With experience like that, it would take a lot to take them both out.

"Thanks, Henry," I said with a weak smile. He smiled back, and I felt like a terrible person. "I... I'm going to head upstairs." I turned to leave, then stopped and glanced down at the goggles in my left hand. Well, that's one way to make me feel better. "Uhm – Here. I, er, I was wondering if you could, um, clean them? While I'm hanging with May."

Henry blinked once and then smiled, taking them from my hand. "Ah, I'm so happy you're such a terrible liar, Tasuke," he said. Oh, great. Now I felt like crap again. He rubbed my head. "Thanks, Tasuke. I'll take good care of them until tomorrow."

I smiled back, then went upstairs, the smile fading when he couldn't see me anymore. I scratched Momentai's ears as I reached him at the top of the steps, and then jumped into my room, the dog following me. May put Dori down on my bed and looked at me with concern. "Is... everything okay?"

I picked up Momentai and put him on my lap, letting the dog walk over to Dori to pant excitedly. "No, he bought it all. Said I found them in the card box." I groaned and buried my face in my hands. "I told him I was worried they were dead just to get him to stop asking questions."

May grimaced and shook her head. "Jeez. That's shitty."

"Yeah, I know," I hissed back as quietly as possible. "It was like I... I don't know, punched a puppy? And you know what he said when I gave him the goggles?"

"No."

"I gave him this bull story about wanting them cleaned, and he just said, 'I'm happy you're a bad liar.'"

May couldn't help it and laughed out loud, Dorimon barely containing a snicker. "It's _not_ funny," I stated.

"Oh, it's awful. But it is hilarious," Dorimon explained. She smacked the dog away as he began to sniff her. "Hey! Bad dog."

"Look, it sucks. And it's not cool. At all," May explained. She leaned forward and grabbed my hand. "But it's good you feel bad, right? And I can tell you from my own experience with Dory that a lie to save someone's life – or in your case, to save your parents from a dangerous parallel dimension – isn't the worst thing. You can always apologize when we get them back."

I gripped her hand back. "Thanks, May. I know you didn't want to do all this, but it means a lot that you will."

She smiled then slowly let go of my hand. "Ahem. I, uh... How about I kill you in MK now? D'Vorah will annihilate you, no matter the character you choose."

"Not even going to let me win a fight? Come on!"

"That would be insulting," she said, already picking up one of the controllers. "Do you really want me to patronize you?"

"Yeah, Dummy! Would you rather be treated like a baby, or like a Dummy?"

I glared at Dorimon. "What a difficult decision," I muttered dryly. I glared at her for a moment more before grabbing the other controller. "May, have you ever thought about a barking shock collar? Might make it a little more peaceful if she wasn't constantly talking."

"Oh, you know you'd miss my words of wisdom."

"I hate your dog," I grumbled as the game started up.

8 Days Earlier...

Agent Jennifer Smith sat quietly, taking a sip from her beer while she waited for her Digimon Partner to explain just what had him so out of sorts. This was his first time in the human world, so she had expected him to want to see the sights. Instead he'd had her go and rent a motel room that they weren't even using. She was crashing in a friend's guest house. "Who are we running from right now, Cadetmon?" she finally asked, kicking her legs up onto the table and sighing contentedly. She took another drink. "Because you've been acting weird since we left the Director's office. I mean, 'We need to talk?' What the hell is that about?"

Cadetmon tapped his stubby arm against his leg, looking more and more worried as time went on. "Cadetmon. Cadetmon!"

His head snapped up. "What? Oh, right. Right." He moved to the edge of the table, next to his partner's feet, and sat down with his feet dangling. "Agent – Jen. What do you know about the Digimon Hierarchy?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Uh, not much." She put her beer on the ground and shrugged. "You guys used to have some kind of god-king, right? The 'Digimon Sovereign' responsible for the Deva Invasions way back when."

"Kind of. It's a good start," Cadetmon said. He held up a stubby arm before realizing he didn't have fingers in this form and disappointedly lowering his hand. "There are four Sovereigns, designed to watch over the Digital World after the first Server it was on tried to annihilate the Digimon before the Monster Makers even made the D-Reaper. The Sovereigns are served by various powerful Digimon. Angels, for one."

"Okay. So... the Digital World is, what, based on our religions?"

Cadetmon nodded. "Right. And where there's Angels, there's Demons." He shivered. "The Director, he was talking to a really dangerous one. Reapmon."

"Give me the rundown. Considering I don't watch the shows or whatever," Jen said. She picked up her beer and took a drink.

Cadetmon glanced down, then up at her. "He serves the Seven Great Demon Lords. Mega-mega Digimon. The most evil Digimon in the Digital World, and we don't exactly care about good and evil as much as alive and dead. But them? Evil. Reapmon is an Ultimate, but I don't know if that one Estevez agent could even take him. Not even the HYPNOS agents." Cadetmon shook his head. "So if Gethen is working with Reapmon, he's being played, or..."

"He's working for them," Agent Smith finished for her partner. She clutched her beer in both hands. "I... Jesus Christ. Either of those would be... Jesus Christ."

Cadetmon nodded solemnly. "The Demon Lords want to rule the Digital World, but they wouldn't stop there. They want this world too, and they'd have fun killing any humans they saw. Maybe all of them, because then there'd be no Digidestined to stop them."

"So he's, what, going to use the Hazard to break the Firewall and let these Demon Lords out into our world?" Smith wondered. She downed the rest of her beer in one go and then threw it at the wall, the glass shattering everywhere. "Goddammit!"

Cadetmon glanced up at her. "We... have to stop it."

She looked down at him. "I thought you'd want to be a good soldier," she mocked.

Cadetmon nodded. "A good soldier follows orders that aren't evil. This is evil."

"So what do we do?"

"We find out where the Hazard and its partner are," Cadetmon said. He nodded slowly, steeling himself. "And we kill them."

"Even if it's a kid?"

"Then only if we can't get the Hazard. We can't let Reapmon get it!"

Smith watched her Digimon, and he briefly wondered if she was going to turn him in. She'd get a promotion and a different Digimon. She'd get everything. And besides, he _could_ be wrong about this. "Then that's what we'll do," she said. She held her hand out to Cadetmon. The tiny Digimon stared at the hand, then smiled grimly. "Partner."

"Okay, Partner." He took her hand and shook, the both of them becoming – officially – guilty of treason.

 _I'M MARRIED TO RIKA!? Oh, jeez, I can hear Terriermon laughing now. 'Dream Girl.' Oh, God, I hope he didn't bring that up at our wedding. That would probably be... bad. Well, at least I know I'm alive now. So, I guess I don't make the mistake of bringing it up too often. Or maybe Rika's better with her self control when it comes to trying to kill me? Hm... let's put that in the maybe pile. Marriage, right? But what exactly is Director Gethen doing with Reapmon? Can't be good news if an evil Digimon like him is involved. Hopefully Tasuke, BlackGuilmon, May, and Dorimon can get it together in time to stop it!_

 _I guess we'll have to find out more next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


	9. Digital Agents: First Strikes

**AN: Hey everyone! Sorry this took a little while to get out. I've been really busy lately with family trips, job stuff, and helping my family with important stuff. We got to go to Comic-Con last month, which was pretty fun. If any of you watch _My Hero Academia_ , we all dressed up as a family in some cool costumes. My aunt helped me make a Best Jeanist that looked great!**

 **Anyways, I hope that you guys enjoy this coming chapter. Time to write it has been few and far between, but I worked on it as much as I could. I hope you guys like it!**

 **Now for responses.**

 **To smartalec121: I know I've already said this in a message, but it bears repeating: thank you. You're right that Rika's friends would _never_ call her 'someone's wife.' They'd probably fear she'd hear from the Digital World and find a way to take them out from there! In the original draft, Tasuke was going to have been much younger when his parents disappeared, and the possibility that he was actually Henry's kid was going to be a thing, but it seemed contrived so I moved on but got stuck on that needless 'mystery' anyways. Regardless, I'm glad you like BlackGuilmon! He's super fun to write, especially when he's talking with May. And if there is hope for him, I hope that I can write it as organically as I picture it in my head. As for the Tamers, that will be a point that will be directly addressed eventually along with how and why the Digimon from the Tamers show disappeared. Who knows? Maybe some old faces will show up in the meantime.**

 **I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and what comes next!**

 _ **Episode 9:Digital Agents:First Strikes**_

Agents of D-CARD that operated in the real world were technically the only direct operatives of D-CARD, as they dealt with the real world defense against foreign Digimon. Operatives that defended the nurseries were 'D-CADD,' or the 'Digimon Center of American (Digital-World) Defense.' The agents of D-CARD worked at the beck and call of the Director, but when he wasn't personally interested in them they generally worked on loan to special branches of the CIA, NSA, or – more rarely – the FBI. Because of their position working for the Director, they were afforded certain... privileges. Privileges that Agent Derek Verrater very much enjoyed. Lots of government agents didn't really get all that many perks of the job. They had to stay in roach motels, drive terrible cars, and the pay? For all the work they put in, it was never enough to warrant it. What had his old handler called the real reward? Oh, right: "Pay-triotism," like doing things for your country was the reward. It wasn't as much a thing when you were responsible for a living WMD. He was in an pretty good hotel with a pretty good breakfast buffet, a nice mid-model truck. The pay was still terrible, though. Which was why he had decided to build his nest egg selling secrets. And worst came to worst, he had an exit strategy.

For now though, he'd enjoy the easy jobs in comfort. Jobs like hunting a pair of idiot kids for the Director. Right now, he could see that these two had barely any training. They hadn't set up any kind of traps for him, and they were running around like they didn't even expect anyone to come after them at all. Verrater grinned. Kids that D-CARD wanted kidnapped or dead meant only one thing: Digidestined. He'd definitely capture them, then. The information that D-CARD had three Digidestined in pocket would fetch a _huge_ sum all over the world, and he wouldn't even have to offer it in one deal. He could sell it to everybody and retire anywhere in the world! Well, anywhere except America, but he figured that was a small trade for living like a king for the rest of his life.

But that would have to wait, at least until his job here was done, so he pulled up his binoculars and put on his headphones as he realigned the surveillance dish he was using to listen to the school. Inside one of the outer rooms, he could hear the two kids stupidly talking, but at least whispering, about Digimon. "So what did you tell Henry you were doing instead of training with BG?" The girl giggled, some kind of inside joke apparently.

"Part timing with a restaurant he hates. It's the perfect cover: he'll never check if I'm there!" the boy replied. "And it's BlackGuilmon."

"Defending him?"

"Have to make him my friend somehow," the boy explained as he leaned with his cheek on one hand. "Otherwise he'll never -" he stopped and turned, flashing an anxious grin as people passed by. "Never Digivolve."

"Smooth," the girl said with a smirk. She sighed. "But why doesn't he have to try."

"Because he won't," the boy explained. "So, I guess, it's up to me."

The girl most have rolled her eyes, because the boy indignantly asked, "What?"

"Maybe BG is good for you in one way, then," she explained laughing under her breath. "You'll have to learn people skills."

"Ugh," he grunted back, but he sounded amused by the whole thing. "What do you think we'll learn from -"

Verrater yelped as the bell rang suddenly, cutting off all other noises and deafening him until he tore his headphones off. He snarled and slammed them on the roof beside him before rubbing his ears. "Dammit," he groaned. He raised the binoculars and looked for the kids, picking them out as they went over to neighboring cars. Easy enough to track, just keep an eye on those –

He cocked his head to the side as he saw someone he recognized, vaguely at least. He'd seen enough pictures to tell who that was, but he wasn't sure. He picked up the surveillance tool and aimed it at the three kids. " – want, Kidnapper?" the boy ended as he glared at the newcomer.

The new boy looked uncomfortable. "Tasuke, I wanted to..." he glanced around, eyes scanning the sky like he expected someone was watching. "Don't be late. We'll be doing basics on everything you'll need to survive once people start chasing you."

"We aren't going to be late, Davis," the girl interjected before the boy could snap something else at him.

Verrater palled and the rest of the conversation faded away. Davis Estevez? That Davis Estevez? The Digidestined with an Ultimate level Digimon partner? Agent Verrater couldn't really hear the conversation going on now instead his mind was whirling in an effort to put all the pieces together.

He'd been sent after kids that D-CARD already owned.

They were being watched by the single strongest agent working directly under Gethen.

Verrater sold secrets and betrayed D-CARD.

It all clicked and he fought down the urge to scream in rage. Gethen thought that he could just use him as a goddamn test to make these stupid kids stronger? Like he was a stepping stone? Verrater tore the headphones off and tossed them out to the side of the road as he turned his key and the truck's engine roared to life. Gethen was going to really do something this stupid? He'd just run, then. That way –

No, no, no. No. Screw that. Running? He had a nice sum in his nest egg, more than enough to retire and even drag Goblimon with him for kicks. But kidnapping two Digidestined before they were a real threat? Forget selling the secret that the US had three Digidestined. Selling the both of them to a country would make him richer than God and he'd live more opulently than a Devil. And, he grinned, it'd be a great screw you to Gethen, that pompous...

But that did leave one issue. How to deal with Estevez. Verrater could beat a couple of Rookie kids no problem. Ogremon was more than enough for that, after all. But he couldn't hope to go face to face with Estevez. But odds were these kids couldn't deal with anything too strong yet given how stupid and untrained they were, so they wouldn't be sent after any Bio-emergence that was too strong. Champion or higher, definitely not. He picked up his 3D and glared at the screen. How far could he push this? Gethen wanted this to be a stupid test, then he'd push it as far as he could. He called the number. "Yes, I'd like to request an Ultimate Bio-Emergence on Friday near my current location." He listened to the question the agent on the other end asked and grinned. "It's needed to distract and divide."

He put his foot on the gas as he saw the kids' cars heading away, following them wherever the hell they were going. Now he just needed to set the trap, and he was sure he'd get a good way to do that soon. Getting rich because Gethen decided to let two idiot kids try and kill him would be priceless even compared to the millions he'd make selling them. He'd almost want to pay to see Gethen's face when he realized he'd underestimated Verrater. Not that he was stupid enough to try, but it would be nice to imagine from his beachfront home somewhere with Digi-agent bodyguards making sure he'd never be hurt. And all it would take was beating the snot out of these two stupid kids.

 **X X X**

There are some important things that I hadn't really learned about handguns before I'd used one for the first time. You see, video games and movies really don't communicate a huge level of truth regarding them. First of all, they're kind of heavy. Not like so heavy you can't do anything, but heavy enough that it isn't all that easy to hold it out for an extended period of time. Second, recoil even from a handgun is nothing to sneeze at if you aren't prepared for it. I had set my feet just like the Kidnapper had told me to, and I'd still yelped as the gun shot up in my hands. "Shit!" I'd shouted as the gunpowder exploded and the bullet flew forward, slamming into the target and tearing through. The gun had shot up in my hands and the bullet went wide, cutting through the corner of the paper to leave a small hole.

After a little while, I got a little better at it. A lot faster than May, at least. While I eventually managed to get a couple on the center of the target, she just barely managed to hit the target paper at all. "Why am I so bad at this!?" she snapped as she finished and put the gun down at the range after removing the clip. We all removed our earmuffs and she turned around to glare at us. "I hate this," she muttered and glaring at me. "How did you do it so easy?"

"I'm not all that good at it, May," I said sheepishly. "I mean, I hit the _target_ maybe four times in five clips. Look at Davis' target; he bulls-eyed the entire clip!" And he had. Ten small holes at the center of the target. I grinned. "But yes. I am better than you."

"It had to be at something," she spat back jokingly.

"But for now you both understand exactly what you can do, and what it's like to hold one of those," Davis said simply. He walked over and opened a door, letting the Digimon into the room.

"Ew, what's that smell? It burns my nose!" Dorimon cried as she walked in, standing on top of the massively annoyed BlackGuilmon, who was still tied down to a cart now being pushed by Huckmon's head. "I don't like it. It smells like BG's breath!" BlackGuilmon didn't say anything, but he smoke began to rise from his nose as he glared at Dorimon. I guess he learned it wouldn't do anything for him to thrash about like a toddler. Or maybe it was that we had threatened to muzzle him if he didn't stop.

"I wish that the two of you were actually good with them, of course," Davis continued as he ignored the Digimon. He shook his head. "But we can't worry about that. Agents are going to come after you sooner rather than later, and you need a way to defend yourselves from people who are going to try and kill you." He crossed his arms. "As minors, we aren't allowed to carry your regulation digi-weapons everywhere, so we'll have to leave them here in this gun range. And remember what you learned about gun safety. It's important that you never break any of those rules."

"We're not children," I muttered, annoyed.

"I mean, technically..." Huckmon pointed out simply.

"But we have more we have to worry about," Davis stated, uninterested in my protest. "For as useful as knowing how to fire a gun or win a fight is, it's more important to know how to keep a fight from happening." He motioned at the Digimon, then at us. "We're meant to protect people and keep the existence of Digimon a secret so nobody dies in our fights. So our first method of attack should be..?"

"Tunneling under ground to bite them!" Dorimon shouted eagerly.

"You were way too excited suggesting that," May muttered at her partner.

"And, no. No, it's not that," Davis said, a little surprised the puffball had come up with such a weird plan.

"No, it's a frontal attack!" BlackGuilmon shouted with a grin. "To destroy them with no surprise makes a fight interesting!"

"It's definitely not that, Idi – BlackGuilmon," I supplied hastily.

"Yeah, BG, it's obviously not that. Learn context clues," Huckmon said, drawing another growl from BlackGuilmon for the nickname.

"Can I finish?" Davis asked the Digimon.

"Oh, uh... sure thing, Boss!" Huckmon said, jumping away from the cart. "You can talk."

"Thanks for the permission," Davis noted dryly to his own Digimon. He looked back over at us. "It's making sure you fight on your terms. Somewhere far from people with enough open space that buildings and people won't get hurt, but close enough to here that you can grab your things on the way there."

"... I still like tunneling," Dorimon said with a frown.

"Digging holes? I guess the whole dog disguise has gone to your head," I said, angering the small mon. "Oh, calm down. You're an ugly dog, but a normal looking digimon."

"No, she's an ugly Digimon," BlackGuilmon remarked. Dorimon turned on him, furious, but that only made him laugh. "What are you going to do, _in-training_ Digimon? Snuggle me to death?"

"Let me kill him, May!" Dorimon snapped, leaping forward only to be caught by her Digidestined. "I want to kill him!"

"You couldn't kill me if our situations were reversed. You can't do anything now," BlackGuilmon mocked. "Your _owner_ wouldn't let you."

"Stop it," I commanded, earning a glare from him. He did shut up, though.

"The basics of what you need to do revolve around three things," Davis began to explain, motioning for Huckmon to ensure there would be no more Digital interruptions. "Detection, misdirection, and preparation. The first is difficult, especially when people are trying to hide from you. But there are signs to look out for. Start with cars popping up nearby no matter where you go. Head to a lot of places, and keep watch for the same car appearing either in different places or at the same place over and over. You should also look for new people. If your new plumber shows up at the mall, it might not be a good sign. Misdirection is all about leaving a trail of information, not too long or detailed, that leads to a location you have chosen. Ideally, it's far from people and somewhere you can set traps, which is part three: preparation."

"What kind of traps?" May asked apprehensively.

Davis replied, without missing a beat, "Explosives, mainly. Not much else that can damage a Champion level Digimon. Pits, claymores, and net traps for the humans. Anything else you can think of works, too."

"Wait, you want us to set _explosives_ somewhere?! We're high schoolers, not soldiers!" I snapped. "You're crazy!"

"We are soldiers, by definition. We protect our home in a war, therfore soldiers. And they'll be international assassins, _enemy soldiers,_ " he retorted. Going to be honest, I didn't have a retort for that one. He nodded and continued on, as if he hadn't just told us to get over ourselves and kill people. "You'll need to memorize where the traps are so you don't accidentally blow your legs off or impale yourselves on sticks. Which means don't set too many, and spend as much time as you can on site memorizing the locations."

He paused for a moment, then nodded. "And the last thing, the fourth thing. You need to find a way to survive. It's not -" he shook his head and gave a look like he was trying to get rid of a taste in his mouth. "No matter how evil they are, or how much they want to hurt you, it isn't easy. If you've got a shred of humanity, it hurts to kill. You need to find someone or something to keep you from falling apart."

That was a lot to take in. Davis almost seemed like he was on the verge of tears, and that wasn't exactly summoning up confidence in the rest of us. "What keeps you from falling apart?" May asked after a few moments of silence her quiet voice loud in the echoing silence.

He stared at the ground, jaw set. Huckmon nodded at him, and he sighed. "For me, it's my mother," he explained as he clasped his hands. He stared down at them and fidgeted, running his thumbs over one another. "I joined D-CARD to help her after my father died. Knowing that these people would try to kidnap or kill her just to get at me, that they have, helps me understand that this is self defense. It makes it easier to survive it even if it doesn't hurt less to do it. I'm keeping her safe from people that would hurt her, and that's all I can do."

He looked up from his hands. "It'll be different for you both, but the idea is the same. The person or goal that means the most to you."

May and I looked at one another. What could be something that means that much?

X X X

"Okay, okay. So I like the plan, but could you go over the entire thing again because I wasn't listening?" Goblimon asked before burping out an entire chicken bone. The tiny goblin-like Digimon grinned and reached for another chicken wing, stuffing it whole down his green throat.

Verrater rolled his eyes as he plopped down on the other side of the bed. "You know, I wish I could trade for a better partner," he remarked honestly.

"No one else would help you lie, steal, and cheat," Goblimon retorted simply. He ate another chicken leg from the bucket. "So as much as I'd appreciate a smarter partner, too, we're stuck together, Derek. So, instead of complaining like you always do, just talk about the plan."

Derek glared at the Digimon, not happy with the honesty the actual goblin was giving him. "Just shut up and listen," he growled before taking a leg for himself. He took a bite to calm his anger at his partner. "Gethen's found us out."

Goblimon stopped pulling a leg up to his mouth and a cold sweat broke out on his head. "He... knows?"

"Probably for a while now." Derek waved his chicken side to side and scoffed. "Bigwig's probably been feeding us false info for a while now. Which is unfortunate; some of our old clients might not be happy about that."

Goblimon raised an eyebrow and hopped like a gorilla over to his partner. "You seem awfully calm for someone who knows we're screwed," he remarked, confused. "Why?"

Verrater grinned and took another bite. "Simple," he began after swallowing, "he's underestimated us. He thinks we're a couple of idiots to betray him. Thing is, he went after us like we were idiots. He left the Estevez kid here to capture us."

Goblimon yelped. "And that makes you _less_ worried!? That kid and his partner can go Ultimate, numbskull! We couldn't hurt him if they tied their hands behind their backs!"

"But he really underestimated us. He didn't take me out of the system." He pointed his chicken leg at Goblimon. "See where I'm going?"

Goblimon thought for a moment, his tiny little brain struggling to turn the gears. Then: "Ooooh!" He jumped forward and ate the chicken leg from Derek's fist, gulping it down without chewing. "I get it!"

Derek rolled his eyes. "Really? Do you really?"

Goblimon nodded for a moment, then sighed. "No. No, not really."

"I'm going to have an Ultimate attack near their school, you empty headed... gah! Look, all you need to know is it's going to be us trying to knock out two kids and their Digimon so we can sell them. Two Digidestined kids who can't even make it to Champion."

"And how do we get out of the country, huh? Estevez'll definitely get the Wild One, and then he'll find us after we take the kids down, you know that idiot!" Goblimon insulted. He picked up another leg and threw it at Derek, the food bouncing off of his head with a thud.

"Ow," Verrater muttered dryly. He wiped grease from his forehead and crossed his arms. "We go to one of the consulates. I'm thinking the great white north. They'll pay the crap out of us for these kids, and they'll get us out of the country pretty damn fast." He picked up the chicken leg and threw it at Goblimon, who caught it in his open mouth. "See, moron, I've got a plan."

Goblimon glared at his partner. "Well, it better not get in the way of getting paid," he growled. "And as always -"

"We shouldn't get in each others' way, either. Believe me, if it comes down to me or payment, I know you'll choose payment. I can always trust you to be consistent, you little ogre." He nodded as he smacked the digimon on the shoulder. "And you can count on me to be the same."

 **X X X**

That Friday, May and I sat together with the kidnapper in the mall's food court, eating fries as May and I talked about the best place and ways to set a trap. "There are some nice speakers I can set up all around the park where BlackJerkmon used to live. We can record some footsteps, our voices, and some attack noises to distract them."

"That's a good idea. You can set up for flanking them," the Kidnapper explained before taking another fry. "Or lead them into a more dangerous trap. It's more likely to trick a human than a Digimon, though."

"Then why don't we make smell traps, too?" I asked jokingly.

Instead, the Kidnapper nodded. "That would work, but it will take some... heavy scent. Old socks or worse..." he sighed and shook his head, fighting off an embarrassed blush. "It's not fun to hang up old underwear in a park, but it has saved my life once or twice."

"Gross," May muttered, dropping an uneaten fry onto the floor. Dorimon, hiding under the table, exclaimed in joy and jumped on it like she hadn't eaten in days. "More info than we needed."

Deciding now was the best time to change topic, I turned to the Kidnapper. "So, where does Huckmon go?" I asked as I grabbed another fry. "I mean, one minute he's there, and the next..." I tossed the fry in my mouth. "Gone."

"It's... hard to explain," he began with a confused frown. "As far as I understand it, some Digimon are reborn as eggs, with some level of their old data forming a baseline for what they become, while other eggs are brand new. Huckmon says that he's always known how to sneak around like that, so I guess it's leftovers from the last time around. He's still here, you just can't see him, or hear him, or feel him. He's like a digital ghost."

"If only BlackJerkmon could do that," I muttered. I leaned on the table and sighed. "Maybe then he could do anything other than stay locked up in the warehouse."

"If he could turn invisible, I'd worry about Dory getting loaded," May pointed out dryly.

I soured. "Oh. Right."

"Either way, until he's willing to Dedigivolve so you can move him around more easily, he's stuck in the warehouse," Davis explained. He opened his mouth to say more, but was interrupted by his 3D beeping wildly on the table. "A bio-emergence?" He reached over to his Digivice to check, then turned a few shades paler.

"What's wrong?"

He looked like he was fighting just to stay calm. "Both of you need to stay here. There's an Ultimate bio-emergence happening near the school."

May and I froze. "But there's practices going on. There's people there!" I hissed. "We can help you by -"

"No," he commanded sternly. He glanced at both of us. "I can keep it away from the school on my own, and you two would just get in my way." He stood up. "The Director doesn't want either of you in more danger than you can handle, and neither of you are anywhere close to handling something of this level. Stay away."

With that, he turned and walked hurriedly away. "... We're not following him," May told me when she saw my face. "If he says we'd get in the way, he's probably – no, scratch that. He's _definitely_ right."

I turned towards her, surprised. "I wasn't going to say we should follow him," I protested. "I want to help, but I know when I'm useless. BlackGuilmon could barely beat Huckmon!"

"Then why did you say we could help?" she asked.

"I was going to say we could evacuate people."

"How?"

"Tell them... uh... We could say... that..."

"Exactly."

I groaned and stuffed my face with fries instead of coming up with a retort to her smug face. "Message for a... T and M," the mall's intercom suddenly buzzed. "I found BG. What does that mean? Yeah, I know you don't know, but – "

May and I froze and looked up. "Wh-what did he say?" May wondered quietly.

I glanced down at my 3D on the table. "I... have a bad feeling about this."

It didn't take us long to get to the warehouse, bursting through the door together. "I was wondering when you two morons would get here," a blonde man in a tactical vest stated, standing with his foot on top of BlackGuilmon. A gun was pointed at the Digimon's head. But worse, way worse, was what stood behind him. "Ogremon..." I muttered as my and May's Digivices beeped, bringing up his information. "The Digimon Hunter that seeks to fight bold Digimon with as much combat power as itself. He uses his Bone Mace attack to stun his enemies, then while they're distracted to kill them with a Pummel Whack from the distance.

In yellow: "A Digimon with a human partner."

The man grinned and pointed his gun and tossed zip ties at our feet. "Now, how about you two cuff yourselves nice and slow before I have to do something I really don't want to do." He looked at both of us and frowned. "Wait, isn't there -"

That was the point that Dorumon broke through the wall of the warehouse, firing a Metal Sphere at the man. He snarled and jumped to the side, rolling beneath the attack. His gun came up and he fired at Dorumon, who yelped in pain and stumbled backwards until violet lines appeared in front of her, solidifying into WarGreymon's Brave Shield. The man stopped firing and stood up just as BlackGuilmon had gotten to is feet and sprinted over to May and me. "Good. I was worried this was going to be too easy. Ready Ogremon?"

The green monster took a step forward. "I think I'm going to enjoy beating you four unconscious," he said, laughing darkly. He lifted his mace and tapped it against his other palm, trying – and succeeding – to be menacing "Now... which pipsqueak goes first?"

 **X X X**

Lucas Gethen smiled as he finally had a chance to sit down in mission control in Washington, DC for the first time in weeks. It had been an interesting change of pace to spend his time out in Colorado, but it didn't compare to life in the Capital. Being away from all that power felt... provincial, almost. Still, that vacation had had its uses. He had three Digidestined in hand, and the Hazard, now. It was certainly worth the trip. Too bad that Zubel had to go. He couldn't risk specifics about the Hazard getting out, or for Henry's location to become wider knowledge within his own organization.

On that topic, he had a calculated risk he had to watch play out. He looked up at the main screen of mission control, where only he remained. The Director watched the scene unfolding with great interest, a growing smile on his face. He hadn't expected it to play out quite this well, of course, with Verrater playing into his hand like he was being paid to do it. He expected him to try and run, or for the traitor to call in some sort of backup that he would have to spend valuable resources distracting. Instead, the traitor simply called in a bio-emergence of an Ultimate to distract someone already ordered to stay out of the way. And now he was threatening them! Digidestined having their Digimon and their friends threatened usually ended up getting significantly closer to Digivolution.

Still, even this carried some level of risk. If that fool kept waving that gun around he might accidentally kill one of the Digidestined. That would be such a waste of resources. If it was one of the Digimon, he may be able to recoup his losses with a reborn egg, but humans had no such luxury. He'd waited this long for three Digidestined, and he had no desire to wait that long again. Those children would never grow if they weren't under real threat, so for once he was actually nervous. He had so much to lose, now.

But so much more to gain.

BlackGuilmon was ready to fight, now. Smoke was rising from his nose as he and Dorumon stared down Ogremon. Nearby, the children were getting ready to put their combat training to the test and get rid of the gun before Verrater could kill them or their Digimon. "I suppose there's nothing to do but sit back and enjoy the show," Gethen sighed as he leaned back into his seat. "I rarely make a bad bet, so I hope you do not disappoint me, Digidestined."

 **X X X**

Former Agent Jennifer Smith and her tiny partner had been driving for days nonstop from the DC office where they had been sent for leave, knowing it was only a matter of time before the Hazard got too strong for them to face. They would have been there far earlier, but they had to cover their tracks and set false trails every so often just to make sure that they wouldn't be caught by their former superiors. They had managed to find someone that had enough basic knowledge of tracking devices to clean the 3D, but they didn't expect her to stay quiet. Someone, somehow would find out where they were going and it would be difficult to survive.

But Cadetmon and Jennifer knew that their luck wasn't going to hold all the way to Colorado. When their car flipped through the air and crashed on the side of the empty road in Nebraska it wasn't much of a surprise. The two screamed in surprise and pain as the car tumbled through corn, fires igniting around them. Cadetmon's egg exploded as the car came to a stop and Commandramon burst out, conscious and uninjured. "Jennifer!" he shouted, staring at the unconscious woman. He snarled and turned his gun towards the roof, shredding the metal before grabbing her and leaping from the car. He dragged her through the corn and put her carefully down. "Are you okay?" She groaned in pain, mind barely brushing consciousness. She was bruised and slightly burned, but otherwise she seemed fine.

He turned and shouldered his rifle, knowing it was only a matter of time before whoever attacked them showed up to see if they had died. "Tempest Wing!" Commandramon yelped as the tornado attack flew at him and Jennifer. He glanced behind himm at the human just barely waking up and knew he had two choices. Dodge and let her die, or let it hit him... and maybe die. Not even a hard choice.

When the attack hit, he was sent flying over his partner, the wind following him shredding corn as he went. He rolled to a stop a dozen feet away, his data no longer quite stable. His flickering form burned with pain as he forced himself to his feet. "Halsemon and Agent Juno Amour," the Digimon hissed as the agent and her Digimon stepped through the corn towards his partner, who was now pushing herself up on one arm.

"Commandramon," the Halsemon growled, sounding almost disappointed by it. "We are sorry it had to be this way."

"Which is why we didn't kill you," Juno stated. She glanced down at Jennifer. "Jen."

"They really sent our old training buddies after us, huh?" Jen asked as she stood up. She clenched her jaw. "I don't suppose I could convince you to leave."

"Some of us love our country," Juno said. She motioned for Jen to stand beside Commandramon, and she did. "But you are our friends. We thought you'd prefer to die facing it." She turned to Commandramon. "I am surprised a soldier like you wouldn't do your duty."

"Who says I'm not?" the Digimon asked.

Halsemon shook its massive, armored head. "Then it is time we fight." Without warning, Halsemon shot forward, spinning in a violent tornado that drove Jennifer and Commandramon apart. Jen rolled to her feet and reached for her 3D, only to be forced to continue running when Juno began firing a digi-pistol at her.

"You're not going to get off that easily," Juno stated as she fired at the former agent's heels. Jennifer ignored her former friend, pulling out her own gun and firing it back before sliding behind the downed car. "I'm going to get you eventually. Commandramon can't hold up to Halsemon without heavy digi-modification."

Jennifer rolled her eyes before looking over the car and firing at Juno. "The director is lying, Juno!"

"He is our leader. He has to hide secrets!" Bullets traded back and forth.

Commandramon was, just as Juno had said, at a disadvantage. Even though Halsemon was a Data type and he was a Virus type, the armor digivolution put the bird at nearly a Champion level of power, and that easily made it worth three rookies. The large bird was also significantly faster and stronger physically, with Commandramon's every attempt at dodging resulting in glancing blows that _hurt_. He was getting tossed all over the corn field, and Halsemon wasn't even bothering with using his attacks.

"Well, if we can't get you to decide to come back, we'll just have to bring you back," Halsemon begrudgingly sighed as he landed another glancing blow on Commandramon, the attack sending him tumbling to the ground and causing his data to glitch out. The dinosaur gasped in pain and clutched at his side, trying to will himself to stay together.

"He's working with evil Digimon, Halsemon," Commandramon implored. He struggled to his knees, still glitching. "Not just survival of the fittest like us. _Evil_."

Halsemon studied the small digimon for a moment. Then: "I don't believe you. When we take you back, we'll get to the bottom of this." He turned and began to advance on Jennifer. "But the director's orders were clear. Your data can be reused. Hers cannot."

It was then that Commandramon understood what was going to happen. They were going to bring him in alive, but they had no such orders regarding Jennifer. If anything, they had been ordered to make sure she didn't survive, instead dying in a 'car accident' on the side of the road. He snarled to himself and tried to drag himself forward just as Halsemon screamed, "Eagle Eye!" Twin arrows red energy flew from his gaze, crashing into the remains of the car. The explosive impulse of the attack was enough to send Jennifer rolling through the corn, smoke rising from her clothes. She glared up at the digimon and human approaching her, ready to kill her.

Commandramon felt a bolt of terror run down his spine at the image that appeared in his mind, of his human partner dead on the ground with a bullet between her eyes. He couldn't let that happen to her, not to his friend! "JENNIFER!"

The 3Ds of Jennifer and Juno went wild, swirling with army green energy that shown even through Jennifer's jacket pocket. "Limit reached. Digivolution commencing," the screen said as Juno glanced down at it, and she knew immediately what was about to happen. This was feedback from Jen's 3D echoing through hers, which meant – "Halsemon, attack Commandramon before-"

It was too late, however, as the olive-green and black egg surrounding the digimon had exploded. Gone was the small dinosaur, replaced now with a cyborg dinosaur a foot taller than Jennifer herself. It was coated in black armor, with large, silver talons tipping its feet. A pair of knives extended from red tubing on its back, giving the appearance of wings. Its chest looked like a tactical vest. On its head was a glowing red eye and a silvery-blue one beside it above a gas-mask like silver snout. The helmet was tipped with a black and yellow horn. The digimon held a large knife in a combat stance in its right hand. "Commandramon, Digivolve to... Sealsdramon!"

Jennifer's eyes widened. "You... you digivolved?" she wondered aloud as what that meant struck her.

"Too little, too late," Juno said, desperate to finish this before he could kill them. "Take him out!" she ordered Halsemon before turning her gun on Jennifer again.

Then, faster than even Halsemon could react, the Sealsdramon was in front of her. His fist lashed out and slammed into Juno, and she flew through the air and into the car. There was a sickening crunch and then she hit the ground, no longer moving.

Halsemon reacted immediately. "JUNO!" he screamed as he rocketed towards Sealsdramon, eyes glowing red with rage. "Gah! Mach Impulse!" Blades of pressurized air exploded from the large wings extending from his head, aimed directly at the newly-evolved Digimon.

Sealsdramon's red eye widened and narrowed in response. "Scouter Monoeye," his mechanical, even voice came out from behind the mask. Then it rushed forward, and the knife in his hand easily cut through the dozens of blades that Halsemon had sent at them. "I'm sorry it had to end this way. Death Behind!" And just like that, he vanished, reappearing above Halsemon with his combat knife in both hands. "You were good soldier, even if you were misguided." Then he buried the knife hilt deep in Halsemon's head. Violet data exploded from the wound and the hawk began to scream, agony echoing through the empty fields as he was broken down piece by piece. The digital field created by Juno's digivice transported the data back to the Digital World before the fog began to slowly disappear, leaving Sealsdramon and Jen alone.

Hours later, Cadetmon and Jennifer were driving away in Juno's car. It had taken some time to remove the lojack so they couldn't be tracked, but it had been worth it. It had been quiet, uncomfortably so. They hadn't said much in that time, still coming to terms with everything that had happened. "Jennifer, I -" Cadetmon began, intent on checking if she was all right.

"Thanks, Cadetmon, for saving my life. " She glanced over at him and smiled. "I guess now that we can digivolve, that makes us friends instead of just partners, huh?"

Cadetmon smild back and nodded. "That's right, Ma'am – I mean, that's right, Jen. Friends." He stared out the windshield. "But we only got this far because we can trust each other. You abandoned everything to come with me, even when it would have been easier for you to turn me in. We've been friends for a long time."

At that, Jennifer's smile just grew and she turned away to focus on the road stretching out in front of them. The two continued to drive, the silence now much more comfortable.

 _Okay, I haven't been able to get **anything** out of the Gogglehead for a few days now. He's been acting like a scared little baby every time I come around, and it's getting annoying. You'd think growing up might have made him less of an absolute Gogglehead, but it's almost like it's made him worse. And now this? You know, I like this Jennifer lady. I hope she doesn't bite it. And these kids, whoever they are, must be such goggleheads, but it's interesting to see Renamon isn't the only Digimon that can stealth around. Of course, she's definitely way better at it. Now, let me see what all of this is about..._

 _HE TOLD YOU ABOUT THE DREAM GIRL THING!?_

 _That's it, the Gogglehead is **so** dead. Come on, Renamon, let's see if he makes it to the next episode of Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


	10. It's All Ogre: Tamer vs Digidestined!

**AN: Hey, I got two chapters of one story out in one month! I haven't done that in a little while. I like doing that. Anyways, I hope you're all doing well.**

 **Okay, so for responses**

 **To smartalec121: Yes, Jen and Commandramon's involvement in the story is going to get more important. It was supposed to be a bit more of a slow burn on that, though, so I get not being crazy about them for a while. Until now it kind of seemed like they were just... there, I bet.**

 **Well, I hope you guys all enjoy this chapter, and our first glance at a few old faces you haven't seen yet. Not the last old faces you'll see, but I thought it was time to check in on them.**

 _ **Episode 10: It's all Ogre: Tamer vs Digidestined!**_

"Pummel Whack!" A snarling, Ogremon shaped beam of green energy launched from the Champion Digimon's fist, flying towards the two Rookie Digimon in front of him. BlackGuilmon snarled and charged the attack, ducking beneath it so the energy skirted along his back and left a minor but annoying burn so he could get in close. Dorumon had jumped to the side, losing her chance to attack as BlackGuilmon blocked her line of attack.

"Rock Crusher!" BlackGuilmon shouted, summoning a glowing energy around his claws that he dragged through the cement while he approached the larger Digimon. He snarled and leaped up at Ogremon. "DIE!"

"Ha! What a moron!" Ogremon said as he saw this, bringing his bone club around and slamming it into the claws arcing up at him. "Bone Club!" The club glowed with its own energy and slammed into BlackGuilmon's attack. The energy of the two attacks exploded against each other and BlackGuilmon was sent tumbling backwards, more scorch marks covering his reptilian body.

"You're not wrong," Dorumon agreed. She set her feet. "Metal Cannon!" She brought her head back, then threw it forward to launch a steel ball at Ogremon. The green Digimon simply sidestepped and swung his club, the bone making a loud ' _crack'_ noise as the metal ball was sent flying back at sender like a baseball. Dorumon, still stuck in place from unleashing her attack, could only watch as the ball came close.

"Rock Crusher!" A set of glowing claws arced down in front of her, slamming the ball into the ground and shattering concrete. BlackGuilmon panted as he stood in front of her glaring at Ogremon.

"Th-thanks!" Dorumon breathed anxiously.

BlackGuilmon didn't turn to her. "Maybe you'd be more comfortable as a Dorimon," BlackGuilmon growled at the Digimon behind him. "Because you're basically useless as a Dorumon."

Dorumon growled, looking like she was fighting the urge to attack him instead of going after Ogremon again. If it had been reversed, BlackGuilmon might have attacked her, but Dorumon was a bit more... uh, better than that. Not great though. "Well, why don't you get out of my way and I'll show you who's useless!" she snapped, shoving BlackGuilmon out from in front of her. He stumbled a step back and glared after her before charging, too.

"Pyro Grenade!"

"Metal Shoot!"

"Guess you two'll never learn, huh Morons?" Ogremon asked them, his face twisting into whatever a smile managed to be on his face.

Meanwhile, we weren't doing to well in our fight. This agent guy was the only one with a weapon, and the gun was doing wonders to scare both May and me, and keep us from getting too close. Any time we'd tried to move, the guy would just fire a bullet at our feet. The noise and ricochet were more than enough to get us to freeze. This, of course, gave him more than enough time to Digi-Modify his ugly partner. "Mercurymon, activate!"

"That's more like it!" Ogremon shouted as green lines began to form in front of him, solidifying into a massive shield-like mirror in front of him. The two attacks slammed into the shield, and passed through the surface, disappearing like stones into water. A moment later, they shot out, the metal sphere slamming into BlackGuilmon and the green flame into Dorumon.

"Dorumon!" May shouted, taking a half step before another bullet landed in front of her.

"You morons aren't too good at this, are ya?" the man asked us. We turned to glare at him, his Digital enhanced gun still smoking slightly and aimed at May's feet.

"You're American. We... we work for D-CARD, too. Why are you doing this?" I finally asked, clenching my fists hard enough for my nails to dig into my palms, forcing me to focus.

The man scoffed at that. "Yeah, because that matters." He shook his head. "Who cares who you work for? I'm here for money, and anyone will pay top dollar for two Digidestined and their partners. Even if they are useless."

I clutched my 3D tight, trying to figure this out. I looked around the warehouse, looking for something, anything to help. We were in a pretty wide open room, where Ogremon's size wouldn't be an issue and he could easily maneuver. On top of that, the agent guy had more than enough space to make his gun useful. We had two Digimon that hated each other and no weapons, and no way to Digi-Modify without getting shot. At. Shot at.

This guy didn't want to kill us. He probably knew we couldn't Digivolve, given the fact he only brought one Champion to deal with us. On the other hand, he didn't know how close we were to Digivolving, and it sure seemed like the show got more right than it got wrong. That meant he wouldn't shoot us: hurting a Digidestined is the quickest way to get their Digimon to jump a level. After all, no matter how much we moved, he only shot the ground in front of us. On the other hand, he was pointing a gun at us. If I was wrong, we'd know pretty fast once we had a bullet in our bodies.

On the other, _other_ hand, BlackGuilmon and Dorumon weren't going to beat an Ogremon backed up by Digimon cards, especially when they hated each other so much. Knowing that, I wanted to tell my feet to move, to get me close to do something, but I was frozen. I... I didn't want to die.

Ogremon laughed darkly as he walked up to our injured Digimon, twirling his club in his right hand. "Nighty night, Morons," He mocked, raising the club over his head as Dorumon and BlackGuilmon struggled to get up.

"Dory!" May brought her Digivice up, tapping a card and ignoring the bullet hitting the ground near her feet. "Digi-Modify! WarGreymon's Brave Shield, activate!" The purple lines sprung into being.

"Gah, dumb move, girl!" the man shouted, moving his gun towards her completely.

And that was when I was no longer scared of getting shot. "You don't get to hurt May or our Digimon!" I shouted, rushing forward. He froze in surprise as I rushed him, slamming my shoulder into his gut. He grunted in surprise more than pain and he brought his elbow down onto my back. My body seized up at the blow and I hit the ground my knees.

"Digi-Modify! Energy, activate!" Dorumon glowed and stood up, the shield disappearing in front of her.

"Hyper dash Metal!" Dorumon snapped, rushing forward and slamming her forehead into Ogremon's gut. The green Digimon gasped and was thrown backwards, giving Dorumon and BlackGuilmon space.

"That's enough," the agent growled above me, moving his hand with the gun towards May. So I sprung up and bit his hand as hard as I could. "Grah!" The gun hit the ground and I kicked it away, the metal scraping against the cement ground but getting far enough away that he wouldn't be getting it any time soon.

The man, nursing his bleeding hand by his face snarled at me and his hand lashed out, grabbing hold of my hair. "That," he said, voice getting low and angry. "Was a very bad idea." He slammed his fist into my gut, and it felt like I couldn't breathe anymore, his blood and my spit flying out of my mouth with all the air in my body. I flinched on the air as he raised his fist again, already knowing I wasn't excited for what was coming.

"Leave him alone!" May ran up and brought her foot up and around at his head, and I was dropped to the ground, forgotten with my aching scalp and gut. The agent leaned back and slapped her foot away so she spun all the way around, which she turned into a back kick.

"Help me!" BlackGuilmon snapped as I watched the fight. My head snapped towards him, his data shifting as he struggled to his feet while Dorumon lost a fight nearby.

I wheezed and pushed away from May's fistfight with the agent, knowing that I had to help with this. Once I was a good distance away, I pulled out my cards and swiped a couple through the reader. An energy card healed BlackGuilmon up, and an Agumon Expert card swapped his type to Vaccine. Blackguilmon, glowing slightly red for a moment as the cards finished their change, nodded at me. "Good, Tasuke." Then he turned and sprinted towards the fight with Ogremon. "Virus Breath!" A continuous stream of green-black flames shot from his maw, the now Vaccine type attack bathing Ogremon in burning flames. The Champion Digimon screamed and lashed out with his club.

"Dodge!" I screamed at BlackGuilmon, though it probably came out a little more strangled given I had just started breathing again. The flames stopped immediately and BlackGuilmon ducked down, the club passing harmlessly over his head.

Satisfied BlackGuilmon wasn't going to get killed, and even more that he listened to me, I turned my attention to May's fight with the agent. He had thrown her away and was preparing to Digimodify at his waist, which would help Ogremon take our Digimon out. Scrambling, I did the first thing that came to mind: I threw my shoe at him. It slammed into his hand and his Digivice went flying. Lucky. I'd been aiming for his face. His eyes turned one me and he snarled again. "You are damn lucky you're worth so much money!" he snapped. He still ran at me, and it looked like he was going to at least break a few bones.

I slid my feet apart, getting into the stance that Davis had taught us. This guy was bigger than me, and certainly more experienced in a fight. We'd gotten by so far on luck and being underestimated. He brought his fist around to my face and I blocked it, only to have my fears confirmed that he was done toying with us when he swept my legs out from under me. Remember when I said that it hurt getting thrown on the pad? Yeah, I didn't really know what hurt was until I hit solid concrete like that. Still, getting thrown had been good practice, given the fact I was able to keep my wits enough to roll away from his foot slamming into where my head would have been.

That was when May ran up behind him and lashed out, slamming her foot into his left kidney. The agent grunted in pain and stumbled to the side, clutching at his left side. "Do I always have to save you?" May asked, throwing another punch at the agent. He turned and deflected her punch, then slammed his knee into her gut. May let out a pained gurgle.

" _May!_ " I lashed out with my foot, knowing this was somewhere between a very good and very bad idea, my kick catching between the agent's legs. He immediately doubled over and screamed in pain, hitting the ground. I pushed myself up to my feet and grabbed the man's hair, bringing his head back and slamming it once into the ground. I was holding back, but there was still a dull thud and his eyes flickered shut. I stared at him for a moment, then drew another card. "Do I always have to save _you?_ "

"Why don't we finish this?" May groaned, hoarse. She pulled out her own 3D and we glanced towards the fight where Ogremon was currently at a stalemate with our partners, slamming his club into whatever attacks our Digimon threw at him.

"KayKay," I said, drawing a smile from her.

"BG, get ready!" I shouted while I prepared to Digi-Modify him again. "Attack him hard!"

"Don't call me that!" he shouted, but he ran forward. "Rock Crusher!" His claws slammed into the bone and he bounced back. "Virus Breath!"

"Dorumon, ready?" May asked before raising her 3D in front of her. "Digi-Modify: Puppetmon's Strings!" Dorumon opened her mouth and red strings flew out towards Ogremon, who was busy dealing with the relentless but less moronic attacks of my own partner.

"Move!" I commanded, and BlackGuilmon – for once – listened without a word. He jumped backwards, launching a Virus Breath attack as he did to keep Ogremon from following him, and slid to a stop a short distance away. The red strings looped around Ogeremon, strapping his arms to his sides and forcing his club from his hands.

"Hey! What the heck is this?" he shouted. He struggled as hard as he could against the strings, slowly fraying them.

But it wouldn't be enough. "Digi-Modify!" I shouted, bringing the 3D above my head and drawing the card through it. "Magnamon activate!"

BlackGuilmon grinned as a red and black lines began to form in front of his face. "Magna Blast!" he snapped, the lines solidifying and turning into a bright gold rocket. The rocket flew away from BlackGuilmon, leaving a trail of white smoke spiraling behind until it slammed into Ogremon. A huge explosion echoed out, sending enough cement and smoke out that May and I had to shield our eyes.

A tiny Goblimon flew out of the explosion, tumbling through the air and crashing into the wall. He groaned and fell to the ground with a quiet thud, and everything but Goblimon's shifting data was still. "Der—Derek?" the Goblimon asked, glancing up at us. We looked down at where the man had been and froze. He was gone. The Goblimon was stunned for a moment before he began to laugh. "Well, I would've done the same thing, you cowardly human."

BlackGuilmon came up slowly and placed his leg on top of the Goblimon, eliciting a pained grunt from the tiny Digimon. Finally, BlackGuilmon turned towards me. May grabbed my arm as we both realized what was happening. "No..." she warned. Dorumon walked up beside her, glancing between us and BlackGuilmon, as if unsure what to do.

I shut my eyes. To get to my parents I needed BlackGuilmon to Digivolve. To Digivolve, we needed to be friends, or allies at least. To get there, one of us needed to change first, and it wasn't going to be him. I opened my eyes. "Load him."

May and Dorumon gasped while BlackGuilmon grinned a predatory smile. "Gladly." He turned his head down towards the Goblimon, mouth wide open.

"Always thought I'd go down getting killed by a Leomon," Goblimon muttered, slightly surprised by the whole thing.

"Pyro Grenade!"

May gasped again and turned away, hugging Dorumon tight while BlackGuilmon hungrily Loaded the Data and I just felt hollow deep in my gut.

 **X X X**

"Sorry, Goblimon," Verrater said as he drove away down the street. He clutched the back of his head and brought it around to glare at the blood. "But don't worry, I'll get those kids eventually." He turned into an alley and shut off the truck. Groaning, he leaned back. "What a fricking bust. Here I thought I'd get to retire." He picked up his 3D and felt an odd pang in his heart. "And I did think you'd be there." He sighed and pocketed the 3D. Maybe he'd be able to get some money out of handing over the American model, at least. With another sigh, he pushed open the door and got out of the car.

When a lion sized monster of white appeared out of thin air and fog began to cloud the alleyway, Verrater knew he wasn't going to be escaping. "You didn't honestly think you'd get away, right?" Davis asked as he climbed down from BaoHuckmon's back and glared at the traitor. He sighed and pulled a stealth model of the Digitally enhanced gun from his pocket, the device absorbing data from the Field and rearranging from a thin tablet and into a gun. They had limited ammo and could only work in a Digital Field, but Verrater knew it was enough to get rid of him. Especially with the Digimon behind Davis. "How did you get an Ultimate Digimon to Bio-emerge here? What country did you agree to sell those kids to?"

"'Those kids?'" Verrater asked with a scoff. "Forgetting our own age, are we?" A bullet flew from the gun and pierced his knee. The traitor screamed and hit the ground, clutching at the wound. "Damn, what the hell, kid!?"

"Who performed the Bio-emergence?" Davis asked again. His Digimon shifted behind him, uncomfortable with the entire situation.

"D-CARD, what the hell!?" Verrater snapped. He shook his head. "I got D-CARD to do it. The idiot didn't take me off the accepted list, probably to keep me from finding out he knew I was a traitor."

Davis frowned, confused. "No, that doesn't make sense. It's more like..."

Verrater glared at the D-CARD agent for a while, then laughed as he understood. "Oh... I'm an idiot. I should've cut and run." He struggled to sit up slightly. "He wanted you out of the way enough to Bio-emerge a SkullGreymon in the middle of the city."

Davis shook his head. "That's..." He wanted to say his right. He had the authority to allow it, after all. But it wasn't _right_. He shook his head. "I don't believe you."

"Maybe, maybe not," Verrater said, reaching towards his own holster. "Doesn't matter for you!" He raised the gun, and there was an explosion of noise.

Davis had pulled the trigger first, and now his gun was smoking in his hand. There was a hole in Verrater's chest, now, that went right through his heart. The shot of someone experienced with all this, Verrater thought. The traitor again and didn't blink, keeping his gaze locked on Davis'. "You're a... a moron." Then the light faded from his eyes, and his head drifted to the ground.

BaoHuckmon carefully moved towards his partner, gingerly placing his large claw on Davis' shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Davis frowned at the dead body and deactivated the gun, pocketing it as the data returned to the Digital Field. "What if he wasn't lying?" Davis asked quietly, gaze never leaving the dead man's glossy eyes. "What if Director Gethen really did sign off on the Bio-emergence?"

Huckmon wasn't sure what to say to that. Davis had never really asked a question like that before, so the Digimon wasn't quite sure what it meant that Davis had even asked it. "What do you think it would mean?"

Davis thought of his mother and of Huckmon. All they had gained because he worked for D-CARD was a gilded cage: they were basically hostages, where freedom and security could be taken away if he ever disobeyed the Director. "He was right. Doesn't matter." He walked up to the body and grabbed the gun, then towards the truck to take the 3D. "We should go see Tasuke and May. The Director would want me to check on them."

 **X X X**

I didn't really want to go home yet. May had headed home a little while ago with Dorimon. She'd said goodbye, but... I could tell that she wasn't a fan of what had happened. Of what I'd told BlackGuilmon to do. So I stayed behind, even after Davis had left. It was just me and BlackGuilmon, alone together. He seemed annoyed by how I was acting, but he hadn't called me on my moping yet. A first for the aggressive Digimon.

Right now we were in the closest thing the warehouse had to a rest area, with a fridge filled with some snacks, a table, a couch, and some chairs. I was on the couch, and BlackGuilmon was resting on the ground near my feet. "Did I do the right thing?" I pondered as I stared at my dad's goggles in my hands. I rubbed the lens before dropping them next to me on the couch. And leaning back to stare at the ceiling. I had no one to talk to about this. Henry wouldn't be happy I had a Digimon, so I definitely couldn't talk to him. May? She didn't understand. The Kidnapper... no. Just, no.

"What is it you're moping about, Tasuke?" I glanced down at BlackGuilmon, who had cracked the eye closest to me open and was glaring at me from where he laid. The reptilian slits of his pupils softened somewhat into a rounder shape as he studied me. His voice, however, was as angry as ever. "I thought we were finished with this. You didn't get all depressed when I Loaded that Ballistamon, so why now?"

I bit my cheek, wondering the same thing for a moment. Finally: "That was a partner Digimon, BlackGuilmon. Wild Digimon so far have had this desire to just break or destroy, to hurt people. But a partner Digimon -"

"Should know better?" BlackGuilmon scoffed in disbelief. He rolled slightly and turned his whole head to me. "Which of your fellow humans know better, Tasuke? What was that man going to do to us?"

"Kill us. Or worse, sell us," I said, starting to see what he was getting at.

BlackGuilmon frowned. "What's selling?"

I blanched. "Er... He was going to give us to someone else in exchange for... money. It's like the opposite of buying."

BlackGuilmon frowned and muttered something before shaking his head. "Anyways, it does not matter, Tasuke. For Digimon – _true_ Digimon unlike that annoying, purple fuzzball – understand this is normal. From what my data tells me, the Digital World is just Digimon fighting and Loading. It's not all that different here, though. We kill the humans and Digimon coming after us, or they kill us." I felt unsure, still, and he noticed. "And then they kill the female, and probably kidnap this 'Henry.'"

"I know it's kill or die in these fights, BlackGuilmon," I explained, annoyed he'd suggest I was that stupid. "And to get to my parents and keep the Wongs safe, I'll do that. But does Loading them make us stronger? I mean, if a Digimon's data can be reborn -"

BlackGuilmon stood up and plodded over, nudging my leg. "What does the Digivice say? Are we closer to our goals?"

I shut my mouth and glared at him for interrupting me, but pulled out the 3D and opened the Merge Rate anyways. It had been steadily gaining for a while now, nearing eleven a day or so earlier. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw what it said now. "T-twenty?"

BlackGuilmon grinned and smoke began to rise from his nostrils. "See, Tasuke? The results speak for themselves!" he pointed out while I stared in surprise. With a jump like that? Just from one fight where we could have really died, one Loading of a partner Digimon... We were almost to the point where we could get BlackGuilmon to Digivolve to the Champion level. A step towards finding my parents.

I looked over at the dinosaur. "I guess a Digimon would know best," I sighed, not entirely feeling better about all of this, but willing to shove that aside for what I wanted. I placed my hand on top of his head and pet him, eliciting a surprised look on his face before he shut his eyes and leaned his head down on the couch beside me, appreciating it. "How about I go get you a Cinnabon?"

His head shot up and he shoved his snout claustrophobically close to my face just so he could whisper in the most terrifying voice yet, "Yesss..." Drool dropped from his face and landed on my jeans. Great, that wasn't going to look weird. Wait, was I even sure Digi-drool could wash out? Dammit.

 **X X X**

Director Gethen was happy. Everything had gone exactly according to plan with the two new Digidestined. True, there had been the possibility for greater gains, but it already was better than he had expected. The two had defeated their first opponent without help, after all. He honestly had not expected that Davis wouldn't try to intervene in the fight if he had been there, which is why Verrater's request for an Ultimate Bio-emergence was a gift. It forced the agent away. Further, it was unlikely that Davis would ever question Gethen himself about it. He had too much to lose to risk angering his boss, and so was firmly in the Director's control. Besides, he earnestly believed in D-CARD's role as a deterrent against all out Digital Warfare that had, so far, done exactly that. Its place in the delicate balance between the many nations of the world was too integral to humanity as a whole for it to fall.

But to focus on what was important: the Hazard had made a huge jump in power. By aligning their beliefs and goals, Tasuke had managed to nearly double his Merge Rate with his Digimon partner. Twenty. Twenty percent! That was what the boy had said after the fight. That was nearly to the point where Champion level Digivolution could occur. That alone was a significant step forward in his plans, and more than enough to justify the risk he had taken regarding the two Digidestined. True, there seemed to be some kind of issue arising between Tasuke and Mayumi, but children were resilient. With enough time and prodding, they would repair their connection, and she would accept that Loading Digimon was a necessary sacrifice for her friend to grow stronger.

Of course, what kind of boss would Gethen be if he didn't help them both along? He opened up a set of files on his computer, scanning through it. "Let's see who has Champion agents that would make for a good challenge?" he muttered as he narrowed down the list by that criterion. "Not too strong, not too weak. Hm... Well, certainly not Japan. Not yet, at least. If they heard there was a Digidestined they would just send their strongest to kidnap or kill them. In due time, as a... final test, perhaps. Ah... these will all do quite nicely." He selected a few nations and the expected agents they would send out. While many had an Ultimate level agent, nobody other than Hypnos had any to spare risking them outside of their own nation. As long as he leaked there was _a_ Digidestined in America rather than _two_ , very few would send anything stronger than a well trained Champion to collect or kill.

And once those children had enough experience with their Digimons' Champion forms, he could really step things up. Perhaps his associates could even pay them a visit if need be. He needed those children very strong if he were to gain control over the Digital World.

 **X X X**

Rika Matsuki woke up rather easily these days. She'd never really been a light sleeper, per se, but it wasn't easy to survive in the Digital World if you didn't learn how to wake up at the slightest noise. She stood up and brushed her clothes off, frowning slightly. When she was younger, she'd always been a tomboy. Dresses, styling her hair? Ugh. No thanks. And her mom kept trying to stuff her in the ugliest stuff! Or, that was what she thought as a ten year old. Growing up had brought changes, and she'd eventually learned to appreciate fashion. Besides, the fact that her Gogglehead had started to break down in the most hilarious ways when she wore dresses had helped. So, while Rika still enjoyed wearing jeans and a t-shirt, she did wish she had any clothes to change into after twelve years. Still, being stuck with a green bomber jacket with black jeans and combat boots was probably better than wearing a dress in this digital desert. She even had a nice black shirt with a design on it made by Takato of a swirling Kitsune and Dragon.

"Renamon," she said, waiting for the yellow fox Digimon to appear out of thin air beside her. "What's that noise?"

The Digimon cocked her head to the side. "I believe..."

She was interrupted by a trio of very loud snores coming from close by. Rika sighed, annoyed, and turned to look at the ground where her husband, Guilmon, and a tiny puffball known as Calumon still weren't awake. Well, at the very least she could say that all these years hadn't changed him for the worst, if they had even changed him at all. And Dinobreath or the cream puff beside him definitely hadn't changed. Those two ere still basically five year olds with stomachs the size of a runaway Locomon. The three of them would have died in their sleep a long time ago without her.

Rika crouched down and stared at her husband, barely bothering to look at the clothes she had memorized years ago. He had worn a blue sweatshirt when they'd left all those years ago, probably thinking back to when they were kids. He also had a pair of jeans and black shoes. If it weren't for their graying hair and the wrinkles at the edges of their eyes that they'd gotten after all this time, they still both looked like they were twenty five in these outfits. But then Takato had lost the goggles she'd bought him for his birthday after they'd started dating and some of his more obvious boyish charm was gone. Oh, he had been in the doghouse for a while for that one, especially since he lost them in the Digital World! They'd probably never find them again because of his Gogglehead move!

When the three snored in time again, blocking the noise of static that had woken her up, she sighed. "Oh, Gogglehead," she said with an annoyed smile. She flicked his nose and he yelped, waking up and sending Calumon flying into the air with a started cry of his own.

"Takatomon, I was sleeping..." Guilmon whined, looking up and rubbing his eyes. "Oh, Rika. I see." He shut his eyes and fell quickly to sleep again.

"Boy..." Takato laughed slightly. "He could sleep through anything." He looked up at his wife and blanched at her annoyed glare. "Uh... what?"

"You're one to talk, Gogglehead," she explained. She stood up with a slight groan. Sleeping on the ground wasn't easy, anymore. She wondered for a moment if beds had gotten better since they'd come to the Digital World. "Now, Renamon. What's that noise?"

The Digimon was smiling at the two humans before shaking her head and returning her attention to the issue at hand. "As I was saying to Rika earlier, your Digivices are... behaving oddly." Renamon turned a claw towards the gold and blue D-Powers resting near where the two had been sleeping. Takato and Rika followed her finger and were surprised when she was right. The screens of their Digivices were filled with static, and the quiet crackling noise had been coming from them.

"Again?" Takato asked, scrambling over to grab his from the ground. "But there's no way to send a message this time. Does that mean Henry didn't get it? Gah, I wish Henry were here to help with this..."

Rika chuckled and shook her head. "This is probably _because of him_ doing something, Takato."

Takato looked up and chuckled nervously. "Uh, right. Of course."

She smiled at him and sat down beside him running a hand through his hair. "Besides, if he were here we'd have to have left Tasuke with our parents. He's safer from Hypnos with Henry." She felt sad mentioning their son like that. Being apart from him for so long wasn't easy on either of them

"If only Yamaki hadn't been replaced. Maybe we'd still be with him." Takato sighed before leaning into her touch and asking, "But are you okay?"

"No," she admitted to the only person she'd admit that to. Well, the only human, she thought with a glance at Renamon. She returned her gaze to her husband and leaned her head down on top of his. "Not really."

"Takato? Rika! It's you!" The two looked down at Takato's Digivice, eyes wide. Henry laughed. "Guys, I – Tasuke. He's okay. Are y-" The screen shut off before he could finish.

"Henry? Henry!" Rika shouted. She shouted at the Digivice before surging to her feet and kicking the dirt. "Dammit!" She fumed and crossed her arms, thinking of ways to kill the ground beneath her feet. She'd start with some kind of powerful attack using Sakuyamon, she decided. That would show the ground... being in her way.

Takato looked up at her before standing up. "Yeah, this sucks," he agreed. He glanced at the black screen and shook his head. "But.. Tasuke's okay! That's good news, right _Dream Girl?_ "

Renamon chuckled as Rika turned back to him, the woman hiding her slight appreciation for the nickname behind a layer of annoyance.

"Oh, Tasukemon! Is he still a tiny baby!?" Calumon shouted as he flew up on top of Takato's head, his tiny eyes wide. "Oh, his adorable little hands and feet!"

"Uh, humans don't really work that way, Calumon," Takato explained for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Oh..." Calumon muttered before grinning again. "So he Digivolved?"

"Digimon really never change, do they?" Rika said, walking over and pulling Calumon off of her husband's head. She bent down slightly to give Takato a kiss on the cheek and leaned her head against his. "Thanks, Gogglehead."

Takato grinned and wrapped his arms around his wife – he still loved those two words. "Nah, thank you, Rika. I'd have lost it a long time ago without you here, so me calming you down is nothing."

"I know," she said with a smile, shutting her eyes and imagining being there with their son, in the human world. It made her feel better, even if it did make her a little sad it wasn't happening. Probably because her Gogglehead's boundless optimism had rubbed off on her a little: she was optimistic enough to believe it would happen one day now, too."But still."

"Takatomooon." The pair turned towards the slowly awakening Guilmon. "When are we gonna eat?"

"And on that note, we should probably get moving to find something," Takato said with a sigh. "Don't want him to try eating our shoes again."

"Shoes?" Guilmon asked, drooling. "You have extra?"

Renamon grimaced. "I suppose it is nearly time for us to move anyways," she said. "I will scout for threats and Data Streams while you pack up camp. I will see you soon." And with that, the fox Digimon vanished.

"You know, it's fitting you have Renamon as a Digimon," Takato said as they began cleaning up camp. Guilmon and Calumon were laughing and playing around nearby, chasing one another around the rock they'd used to hide themselves. "You're pretty foxy."

Rika rolled her eyes. "Then it's fitting you have Guilmon. You're both complete Goggleheads."

"And you love it," Takato pointed out, grinning.

Rika sighed and grinned back. "For some reason, I do. I even hope Tasuke has that Goggleheadness you do. Oh, but not your lack of brains. Don't want him to be completely hopeless."

"Hey!" Takato laughed.

 **X X X**

 _So... that wasn't a joke. I really do end up with that... that..._ ** _Gogglehead_** _. I mean, Takato! Ew, I can't believe it's like a pet name to them! I won't be able to call him that ever again!_

 _Okay, Rika, just breathe. Focus on... anything else but this Gogglehead nonsense – dammit, again?_

 _Okay, well, at least Tasuke is making progress, even if he's making the same mistakes I did. Loading Digimon doesn't make either of them stronger, not really. But then why did his Merge Rate go up? You know, I think he and that BlackGuilmon are both a little Gogglehead like. I bet they even care more about each other than they'd like to admit._

 _What? No, not like me and Takato, Renamon! Don't even joke, you sound like my grandmother!_ ** _Renamon_** _!_

 _Look, I'm tired of this. We'll just deal with it on the next episode of Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


	11. Reprieve from Battle:Taking a Breather

**AN: Hey guys, hope everyone's having a good time! I'm doing pretty well.**

 **Anyways, responses:**

 **To smartalec121: Whether it is BG or Tasuke that is changing more, we'll find out over time. And Davis is a good guy, at heart. He's just stuck in an 'ends justify means' kind of job. You will eventually hear more and more about the events that lead to Henry being Taj's guardian, though I'll keep a bit of a lid on the when or how. And as for Calumon... well, as you'll learn in this chapter there were only so many options for the Cream Puff.**

 **Now, I hope you guys enjoy! Leave a review if you have any questions, criticisms, or things you like that I can address. See you again soon!**

 _ **Episode 11: Reprieve from Battle:Taking a Breather**_

I was more than happy to finally have some time off from learning how to be Secret Agent Man from the Kidnapper. After that guy and his Ogremon had attacked, everything had caught up with me. It was like all the exhaustion I'd fought over the past few weeks hit me like BlackGuilmon's Rock Crusher. Usually when I felt like this I'd be over at May's, or she'd be over at our house. But ever since the fight the day before, things were a bit... frosty, there. So I was, instead, at my desk working on designing a new project. While May was the best with computers, I was the engineering wiz. Not that this was an altogether original invention, but no one else was going to build it.

The idea had come to me a while after the fight with Ogremon as I realized that May and I didn't have any real way to defend ourselves. We obviously weren't going to be taking the guns to school, and if we couldn't get to the warehouse during the next attack or we got attacked at the warehouse again – or, worse, if we got attacked at school – then we needed something that we could take with us. I didn't feel like throwing a shoe at somebody again. It wasn't anything fancy or too original, but it was taking some thought on how to hide it and take it apart without it taking too long to put it together. After all, even a strong slingshot would probably get us suspended, at least. So the semi-mechanized slingshot I was designing had to look like it was maybe just some random crap in our backpacks. Huh, now that I think about it I guess I was just building a self-drawing crossbow designed to shoot pellets, smoke bombs, and whatever other stuff I could think up. So far the biggest issue I had was hiding the ammo. I finished my fifteenth sketch and pushed it back. It was getting better. I could maybe build a working version sometime in the next few weeks, if I was a little lucky.

For now, I couldn't help but think about what May might be doing. Unlike me, she actually had other friends, so maybe that's what she was up to. I leaned back in my desk chair and sighed. Why couldn't she just understand I had to do this? I didn't tell her to join the stupid D-CARD thing, and I didn't tell her to help me. She didn't have to be here, watching me and BlackGuilmon Load Digimon because we had to do it. She could leave if she wanted to!

No. No, that wasn't fair. I may not have asked her, but it was my fault they'd found her. And once that happened, it was join or have Dorimon taken away. Not to mention she was my best friend, so of course she'd help. She's wanted me to find my parents since we were in the first grade class play. She wasn't going to walk out on me now, even if she actually could have. And if she did leave now, they'd probably... I don't even want to think about it.

Still, BlackGuilmon as right. This was making us stronger, and at the end of the day May would just have to deal with it.

 **X X X**

Davis smiled to himself as he shut off the crock pot and took a whiff of the green chili he'd made. "Delicious," Huckmon said, appearing beside him in the dining room. He was drooling like a maniac, now.

"Huckmon, you know you aren't supposed to be down here!" Davis hissed in surprise. "Mom can't see you, you know that!"

"Aw, come on! She won't be home for a few minutes, Davis," he pointed out in reply, leaning closer to the crockpot. "Just give me some real quick!"

"No, you have to wait," Davis responded, ignoring his partner to go back to stirring the chili. "Mom's almost home and you aren't exactly a clean eater."

"Who works on a Saturday?" Huckmon grumbled. He moved back, acquiescing to his partner's commands, and sat down on his haunches. "This is dumb. I'm hungry."

"The only reason you were able to run around the house all day is because Mom was at work," Davis pointed out dryly. He put the top back on the crockpot and turned to his partner. "And she works hard. The Director may have gotten her hired, but she runs the restaurant's crew on her own. And she doesn't know that, so she wants to make a good impression. Have everything running smooth."

"Then why can't she be here _faster_?" Huckmon whined. His glare was still locked on the crockpot.

Davis sighed. Obviously, Huckmon hadn't actually listened to anything that he'd said. When it came to food, Digimon did tend to have a one track mind, so he guessed he could forgive that for a moment. "Look, all you need to know is that you aren't getting food right now, Huckmon."

The Digimon sighed. "Fine, I'll just go to your room and -"

"And none of the chocolate before dinner. You'll ruin your appetite," Davis told his partner.

Huckmon stared at him, jaw dropped. "I... I wasn't..." Huckmon scoffed. "You just want to take all the fun out of everything, don't you!"

"We'll go for a ride later, Huckmon," Davis said without glancing at his partner. "And you can eat all the chocolate you want, you greedy Digimon."

"I don't think there's that much chocolate on Earth, Davis, but I'll try!" Huckmon shouted before vanishing into thin air, leaving Davis to wonder if he'd made a significant mistake with that promise.

Luckily, the door cracked open before he could really think about that. "Mijo, I'm home!"

"Mom!" Davis rushed to the front door to meet her, grinning. "I finished the chili, so well have dinner soon!" He jumped up and hugged her. "It's good to see you!"

Davis's mother blinked in surprise for a moment before hugging her son back. "Davis, you didn't have to make dinner," she said. "I take care of you, not the other way around."

Still hugging her tight, Davis couldn't help but think, _If only you knew_. "I know," he said instead before he let himself get pushed off. His mother was early middle aged now, with some gray in her black braid and along her temples. She was dressed in a gray skirt and jacket over her white blouse, her nametag from the restaurant still pinned to her lapel. Davis smiled at her and hugged her again. After everything she'd been through, he wasn't going to let her do everything. They may not have had the biggest house or newest cars, but she worked hard to get them everything they had and it was only fair he did, too. "But can't a kid do something for his mom?"

"Mijo," she sighed before hugging him back. She chuckled and shook her head after a moment. "I better check to see you made it right."

 **X X X**

"May. May!" May stared at the Digivice on the floor beside her feet, thinking back to the night before. To when Tasuke had... killed a Digimon. Was it right to be soldiers in a war when they were kids? She didn't really see the difference between killing a Digimon and a human. After a certain point, an artificial intelligence was basically just an intelligence. A thinking, feeling creature. Murdering a Digimon was exactly like murdering a person. "May!"

Her eyes jerked up, blinking. "You okay?" Dan asked from her bed where he was playing with her Digimon.

May forced a smile that didn't reach her eyes, but he didn't notice. He was still too young to really pay attention. "Of course, Dan," she said, standing up and ruffling his hair, drawing an incredibly annoyed noise from the five year old. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You didn't bring Tasuke over. Are you mad at him?" he wondered sullenly. May's eyes widened. The Twerp could really figure that out?

She shook her head. "What are you even doing in here, Twerp?" she asked, deflecting the question.

He glared at her. "I wanted to play with Dory!" he protested, clutching the Digimon tighter until she yelped. "Stop hogging her, Meanie!"

May glared at him in return, then sighed and sat down. "Do you want to watch a show, Dan?" she asked, moving over to her computer.

Dan smiled wide. "Digimon!" The Digimon beside him tried to hide her laughter behind the noise of obviously fake barking.

May grimaced while staring away from him. "Oh, are you sure?"

That was when he started to chant, "Digimon!" at her.

"Fine," she grumbled with an eye roll. There went any chance of a day thinking about anything other than Digimon battles. She placed her computer on the end of the bed and pulled her brother up to the head of the bed so they could watch. Dorimon edged closer to the screen to get a better look. No one loved he Digimon fights more than a Digimon. "We just finished Adventure, so... Frontier, I guess?"

A few episodes into the show, Dan yawned and curled into his sister's shoulder. "May, why do they ab- abse – absoo – Uh..."

"Absorb the data?" May finished for her brother.

"Yeah, why?"

"They're making sure those Digimon can't hurt them again. They're trying to kill them, so they have to stop them completely," May responded without thinking. She glanced at Dorimon, who was staring excitedly at the show. Back when they'd met, Dorimon had talked about Loading Data a lot. It was probably something Digimon wanted to do instinctively, unlike in the show. She only didn't do it now because May had scolded the Digimon so much back when she'd explained the concept. Did that mean in the wild it helped them Digivolve? "In the show it's supposed clean them up. Save them."

"Huh," Dan muttered. He curled up closer. "And I bet they want to see their mommies and daddies again. I'd be so scared if we lost Mommy and Daddy..." He yawned and shut his eyes.

May stared at her Digivice and thought of her best friend. Who had had recurring nightmares about his parents leaving for twelve years. " _Shit_ ," she mouthed so her brother wouldn't know. Tasuke wasn't a bad guy. She didn't agree with him, but... the Digimon he fought were all trying to kill and probably Load his Digimon's data. And that's not even if they weren't trying to kill him. She supposed she could let that go. It's not like he was trying to Load good Digimon Data. Maybe it wasn't like the show, but... well, his motivation was, she supposed.

"I'll bring Tasuke over tomorrow, KayKay?" she asked her brother, shutting her computer as the credits rolled. "I'll tell him to teach you how to play the card game."

His eyes shot open, wide as plates now. "Really?" The kid loved Tasuke. The rest of their siblings were too close in age to him, so he didn't really idolize them. Five, six, and eight? Basically the same. But Tasuke was like a giant. His face got serious. "And you won't hog him like you usually do?"

May rolled her eyes. "Not the _entire_ time, Twerp," she said, picking him up and dropping him on the floor. "Now get out of my room."

"KayKay!" he shouted, still too excited from hearing Tasuke would hang out with him the next day to care about his sister ordering him around. He turned and rushed out of the room, looking for one of their brothers to wrestle with.

 **X X X**

I sighed as I drove up to the paintball arena and saw that May and the Kidnapper were already here. I was a good half hour late. I tried to be early, seriously! But then Henry made lunch and I... kind of forgot. Well, it's not like what we were here for mattered. When I parked I glared at the group message that Director Gethen had sent May, the Kidnapper, and me. He wanted us to do some kind of 'team bonding' exercise. I thought it was a garbage idea. May hadn't talked to me since the fight on Friday two days ago, and neither of us really cared about talking to the kidnapper. What was a round of paintball going to do for that kind of relationship? I mean, I was already thinking about shooting him in the back for fun. Of course, seeing as he was already secret agent man, he'd probably disassemble the other team before we got to do anything...

May and the Kidnapper weren't looking at each other, but when I drove up I received an annoyed glare from both of them. "You're late," the Kidnapper said, brow furrowed angrily. "The director was clear that you -"

"Late is his on time," May interjected, casting a glare at me. She turned to him. "Can we just get this started?"

The Kidnapper sighed and the military rigidness in his shoulders melted. "Right, sure..." he shook his head. "So, have either of you ever done this before?"

"No," I responded.

May shook her head, too.

The Kidnapper nodded. "Okay, uh... it hurts. A lot. This place has some puffy jackets and stuff so it doesn't hurt as much, but you might still bruise. They've also got masks for your faces," he explained. "The paintball _hurts_. And stains, so I hope you're wearing jeans and shoes you aren't afraid of losing."

"Uh..." May and I groaned.

He sighed. "Fine, I'll get D-CARD to expense it," he grumbled. He turned to the door. "It'll be us versus some other team that'll be here today. We'll need to work together if we want to win, and that is why the Director sent us here."

"We'll win with you here, easy. Do we need to work together?" I asked.

He turned and glared at me. "If you don't think that the Director made sure the other team would be military of some kind, then you're an idiot. They won't be special forces or anything, but we won't win if we don't play smart. And if we don't win, they will keep shooting us with paintballs. And that will suck."

May and I traded a glance before she quickly turned away. Okay, so she still wasn't happy with me. "Fine," I muttered, still looking at her for a moment before turning back to him. "We'll do what you tell us to, _Commander._ "

The Kidnapper sighed. "Okay. Let's get started."

When we walked inside, we immediately noticed three men, all twenty-something with identical buzzcuts. I looked anywhere besides the Kidnapper when I realized they were, of course, military of some kind. They were laughing and joking around. They were friends, or at least more than we were.

Fifteen minutes later, the three of us were all wearing black jackets and masks, holding paintball guns full of white paint and waiting for the start signal. The arena was a floor in a fake office, it looked like. Desks, chairs, doors with windows. We were huddled just outside the entrance, a false stairwell. "So, the arena is this office area, a break room in the middle, and another office area," the Kidnapper explained, his voice slightly muffled by the mask. "Both offices are also connected to a side hall on that side." He pointed to the wall to the right of the door.

"We should probably play it defensively," he said, gesturing at the room. "Use the desks for cover and wait for them to come to us. We'll figure them out and beat them in the second and third rounds."

"Why would they come to us?" I asked in disbelief.

"Because this is a game of patience." He gestured around at himself and us. "They get bored and they make a mistake."

I rolled my eyes. "That's stupid. This won't work," I responded turning away and shaking my head. "We should just attack them head on and take them out. Staying here is just waiting to get beaten."

"You said you'd listen," the Kidnapper pointed out with an exaggerated sigh.

"Uh, guys."

"Cause I thought you'd have a better idea than hiding like a coward!" I snapped back at him.

"Guys."

"It's called tactics," he retorted angrily. "I swear, BlackGuilmon isn't becoming smarter, you're getting dumber."

"Wow, is that the best you've got?"

"Guys!"

"What!?" the Kidnapper and I snapped, whirling on May just as a trio of yellow paintballs flew towards us and splattered against our jackets, leaving yellow Jackson Pollock paintings all over them.

"Shit!" May and I snapped. It _had_ hurt, a lot more than I'd expected.

May turned and glared at the Kidnapper and me. "The game started," she growled, ticked off.

I shut my eyes. "Shiiiiiit," I groaned, trying to ignore the congratulatory high fives of the other team.

"Now can we do it my way?" the Kidnapper growled.

I chuckled nervously. "I, uh... yep..."

Five minutes later, we were in the exact same place, waiting for the bell. "Remember, defensive fighting. We'll each cover an area. I'll guard the outer hallway, you two cover that door." The Kidnapper pointed at the door to the break room before continuing, "Treat it like it's real."

The bell rang and he nodded at us, then walked through the side door. "Careful." And then he was gone.

I sighed and marched over to the closest desk, crouching behind it and waiting. May walked over to the desk on the other side and crouched, leaving us staring at each other. I glanced over the desk at the door so we wouldn't be stuck glaring at each other. "So what did you do yesterday?"

I crouched again and looked over at her. "What?"

"What did you do yesterday?" she asked, glancing around the corner. The door was still shut.

I sighed and glanced over at the door the Kidnapper had left through. "Nothing much," I replied after a moment. This was what we were reduced to? Small talk? I bit my lip and returned my attention to the door. "Some designs I've been thinking about. You?"

"Dan begged me to watch Digimon with him," she explained, and I could hear the smile in her voice. "It was fun, even if Frontier isn't as good as Adventure. It's more real with the..."

"The Fractal loading?" I suggested when she grew quiet.

"Yeah." She shifted her paintball gun and nodded. "I guess they did what they had to do in that to get strong enough to survive." Her head turned towards me and I could tell she wasn't talking about the show.

I glanced at her and smiled before remembering that my mask made it so she couldn't see it. "Yeah, they did."

We returned our attention to the door again, waiting for someone to come through. "SHIT!" May and I glanced at one another, then over at the hallway that the Kidnapper's shout had come from.

May and I both stood up slightly and aimed at the door, waiting for the other team to come through. Hopefully the Kidnapper had managed to take one of them out for us. We took deep breaths and waited, then opened fire as the door flew open. White paintballs slammed into the first one through the door, staining his jacket just as ours had been.

And then I felt something slam into my shoulder, causing paint to explode all over me. A growl of pain from May confirmed it had happened to her, too. We turned towards the break room entrance, where the man's remaining partner had taken us down. The Kidnapper walked in from the hallway a moment after the other team left the room to return to their side for the last round. He marched up to us, and shouldered his paintball gun. "Well..." he glanced between the two of us. "That actually didn't go too bad."

"What?" I scoffed. "We lost."

"You took one of them down and I took another. A big improvement from getting wiped out." He pulled up his mask and grinned. "Good job, you two."

May cocked her head to the side. "Really?"

The Kidnapper looked over at the door. "Yeah, but we'll need to do better." He turned to me. "I think you're right."

"Huh?" I asked in confusion as I pointed at myself.

"We go on the offensive. When they attacked me, they did it three to one, then split up to surprise you two," he explained. He gestured at the break room. "They want to take us out one by one, so we're going to get the jump on them by giving them what they want. I'll head in there, you two will take chairs and move through the hallway behind them."

"Do you think that will work?" May asked, already moving to grab a chair. She turned back to us. "I mean, won't they get you in that room then take us out from behind?"

"I won't get taken out. I'll use a table for cover in there and I'll be fine," the Kidnapper brushed her words off. He chuckled. "Thanks for the concern, though."

The bell rang and the Kidnapper brought his mask down again. "Let's go."

May and I pushed our rolling chairs out into the hallway, facing the back down the hallway and crouching behind it, pushing it ahead of us like riot shields. "I think we've got this," I said as we began walking down the hall, aiming our guns to hit whoever would pop through the door at the end of the hallway.

We were rewarded for our vigilance when he walked right through the door and fired at us, the yellow paint crashing into the backs of the chairs. May and I returned fire, and she was able to hit his shoulder as he tried to wheel behind the door. "What!?" He sighed and stepped back, letting the door slam shut.

Well, there went the element of surprise. "You open the door, I'll take, uh..."

"Point?" she supplied.

"Yeah, that!" I agreed sheepishly as we got into position. She looked at me expectantly from behind the door. I readjusted the chair, and nodded. She pulled it open and I raised my gun, firing once. The white ball exploded against one soldier's arm. He was holding the door to the middle room open, and it fell shut with a curse. I glanced to my right and saw the last guy wheeling towards me. I fired at him and missed, but he jumped to the side. "Two o clock!" May wheeled around over me and fired, the paintball slamming into the guy's chest.

I stared in disbelief.

We won?

We won!

I turned towards May and we yanked off our masks. "We won!" we shouted, jumping towards one another.

 **X X X**

May's house was a breath of fresh air after worrying I'd never be back here the night before. And hell, we'd even dragged the – Eh, let's go with Davis for now. Everything he'd taught us had helped us stay alive against that agent guy. That guy or someone like him would have found us eventually, and we never would have won. Davis is the only reason we were even alive, so I guessed I could cut him some slack.

Anyways, May's house. Dan had nearly tackled me when we got inside, excited I was there and begging me to play with him. May's mom and dad seemed relieved that one of their sons would be quiet for a while and made sure I said yes for at least a while. I did, and after some quick introductions of Davis to May's parents and vice versa, we were in May's room with Dan. And then he dragged out all of her old Digimon cards and forced me to play with him.

Deciding to go very, very easy on him, I was playing with a Numemon deck. He was getting better if the fact that I was actually getting close to digivolving before I beat him. To be fair, he was mostly just choosing cool looking cards. Not the best for the game, but definitely the same thing I did as a kid. And I let him have a few, too. He wasn't actually digivolving a Vikemon, but he liked to think it was. And who beats a five year old every time? "Oh, darn. You won again," I told him as he surged to his feet and laughed, shouting out congratulations to the Vikemon card. I smiled at him and dropped my cards on the ground, leaning back as he danced.

"He used to be good at that game, Dan," May told her brother. She was smirking at me when I turned to her and stuck out my tongue. Dorimon did the same to me from her lap, then hid a laugh with the word _bark_. Not the noise, the word. Dumb, ugly Digimon. It's only because Dan was five that he didn't catch it.

"I've never really played," Davis admitted from another chair where he'd been watching the game intently. May and I looked over in surprise. Then why did he download the app and become Digidestined?

"Tasuke, tell me about these Digimon!" Dan shouted, plopping next to me with May's box of cards and shoving an Armadillomon card in my face. "I like this one in the show. Tell me more!"

May was the one who decided to voice our question, given I was busy."Then how did you..?" May cut off and glanced down at the Digimon in her lap. "Know so much about Digimon?"

"Ah, I... Downloaded the game on someone else's phone. And you can guess what happened next," he explained, choosing his words carefully. And he was right, we knew what happened next. That phone was sitting in his pocket, connecting him to a dragon that could evolve into a living weapon of mass destruction. Wonder who lost their phone when he got... what? Chosen? Huh, makes me wonder who chose us.

"Tasuke, Tasuke! Who's this!?"

I glanced over at Dan. "Sakuyamon. She's like this magic priestess," I explained. I smiled. "She's one of my old favorites."

"Oh, really?" May asked, smirking at me.

"Not like that!" I shouted, waving my hands back and forth quickly to dispel what she was suggesting.

"Like what?" Dan asked. He dropped the cards and glanced up at his sister. "May, like what?"

It was my turn to smirk at May. Her joke having backfired, she turned pink. "Uh, I... Nothing you need to worry about," she explained. She groaned and smacked her Digimon's head to keep her from laughing. "Just... Dan, why don't you go ask Mom and Dad for some food? It's late, right?"

Dan narrowed his eyes at his sister, and she sighed. "I'll watch an episode of Digimon with you tomorrow if you leave now," she promised, and the kid's eyes widened.

"KayKay!" he shouted, surging to his feet. He ran up and pet Dorimon, then hugged his sister. "Bye Tasuke! Bye Davey!"

"Davey?" Davis wondered. But Dan was gone before Davis could try to correct him. "Why Davey? Davis is easier than Tasuke!"

"Doesn't matter, Davey," I said dismissively. I put the cards and mat back in the box and pushed myself to my feet so I could sit beside May. "So, whose phone was it?"

Davis groaned and looked tot he side just as Huckmon appeared and laughed. "Oh, come on, Davey! Tell them!"

"Traitor," he told the armored dragon. He turned back to us. "I... it's my mom's. I downloaded the game when she wasn't looking and she grounded me when she thought I stole it."

"Which you did! You stole your mom's phone," Dorimon said before bursting out in laughter. "Oh! That's great! The cop stole his mom's phone!"

"I'm not a cop," Davis told her, annoyed. He sighed and shook his head when she just laughed harder instead.

"It is funny," Huckmon stated, chuckling under his breath despite his partner's obvious, silent requests that he not.

"Huh. For some reason I'd always assumed that it only happened because it was _my_ phone," May said, placing a hand on her chin. "If that's not the case, then the photo it takes must have more importance than I thought."

"The R&D of D-CARD doesn't even know the ins and outs of the process," Davis said. "There just aren't enough Digidestined Digivices out there for them to look at. In fact, this is the first time three Digidestined have been together at all. Most countries lose one or two in an assassination before this can even happen."

"Cheery," I muttered, drawing an apologetic chuckle from Davis. I shrugged. "But I guess knowing that is better than dying."

"Now who's cheery?" May asked dryly.

Yeah, this was going to get bad fast. Knowing this, Davis quickly asked, "So, what's the deal with calling him Taj? Is it just because his last name begins with 'J?'"

May's face brightened and I covered my face with my hands. "KayKay, it's great!" May shouted. She grinned evilly at me. "He hates it."

"I don't hate it! It's just..." I shook my head. "Come on, it's stupid."

"Okay, so, it's not what you think," May explained with a grin. "Have you ever heard of a show called JoJo's Bizarre Adventure?" Davis stared blankly. "Well, it's about this anime about this hyper manly family who all have the nickname JoJo. In one of them, they mention that the kanji for 'Suke,' the end of Taj's name, can be pronounced 'Jo' instead. Taj wouldn't let me call him JoJo, so this was the best I could manage."

"Because I'm not a JoJo, May!" I explained, exasperated. "Come on, you know that!"

Huckmon piped in, then. "So, if that's the case... then you could say that getting his Digivice makes all this... his JoJo's Bizarre Adventure?"

The room got very silent as I fell facefirst onto the bed. "Nooooooooo," I groaned hollowly just before May, Dorimon, and Davis began laughing at me. "Please, no..."

"You know, everyone being so happy makes me think... maybe BG would benefit from being here?" I supplied as their laughter died down. "He can't be an angry, nasty Digimon forever, right?"

May, Davis, Dorimon, and Huckmon grimaced and glanced at one another. "Yeah, I wasn't even sure I believed that," I admitted.

 **X X X**

BlackGuilmon glared at the couch in front of him, smoke rising from his nostrils and hunger echoing from his stomach. "I... wonder," he muttered to himself. "Could I load Data from this?" He stood up to his full height. "Pyro Grenade!"

The couch exploded into flames and the Digimon took a step forward, grinning excitedly as he awaited the moment it would explode into Data and he could Load it.

Instead, the air started screaming at him and rain began to fall from the ceiling. "Ach! What's going on? What's going on!?" He glared at the ceiling and, panicking, shouted, "PYRO GRENADE!"

 **X X X**

Henry frowned as he glared at the D-Power. "Why the hell would I expect you to just start acting normal?" Henry asked it. He leaned back and picked up the Digivice so he could press a few buttons and cycle through its functions. Functions that, as far as he knew, it hadn't had when he'd first received it. Video calls? His phone hadn't been able to do that back then, and Digivices tended to exist at best at the current level of technology. That their hardware apparently had been restructured even with the Firewall he and all the other old Tamers had put up to keep the Digital and Human Worlds from interfering with one another was beyond him, and he'd spent all of the night from Friday to Saturday taking the thing apart and putting it back together to try and figure that out. And now he knew even less about the hardware of the thing than he did before. "Even when you're working you're more annoying than ever. Just like that floppy eared Terriermon..."

He sighed and pressed one of the buttons, cycling through the new functions. Video call, instant messaging, scanning. Most of them were grayed out and inaccessible, but the fact that he could even view them was beyond him. He put his free hand on his chin and frowned. It had to have something to do with the appearance of that BlackGuilmon, which made him even more certain that it was connected to Takato in some way. Even beyond Takato's partner being Guilmon, Takato was one of the three Tamers that had to go to the Digital World to create the Firewall. This jump in functionality had to have something to do with the new Digivices, whatever they were. Meaning Gethen had to have sent one of his Tamers here to find the Digimon. "And here I thought finding the Digimon was up to me," he muttered to himself. His frown deepened. "Or does this mean you've already found them and didn't tell me?" He wasn't sure which possibility he was worried about more, that it was free or that Gethen had it in hand.

Henry put the Digivice down and resigned himself to the truth. If he wanted answers, he would have to wait or work more directly for Gethen, and he refused to do that. So waiting it was. Eventually, more functionality would be unlocked on the D-Power, and he could perhaps use the functions to find one of the Digimon Gethen wanted, or even better the Tamer that he had sent in response to the appearance of those Digimon. Then he might be able to get his hands on one of the new Digivices to figure out how it worked, and find a way to get Takato, Rika, and Ryo out of the Digital World.

Actually, knowing Ryo he'd probably stay anyways.

 **X X X**

 _Wow, great. I'm stuck in the Digital World and Tasuke and the others are playing games and making jokes. Just once could a Tamer other than me be on task? Still, nice to see that any version of the Gogglehead's partner is still an idiot. Even if this one's more of an evil idiot._

 _But the worst part is knowing that Ryo is stuck in the Digital World with us. I'm just glad he apparently wasn't hanging around with us. But why just the three of us in the Digital World? Where are all the others?_

 _Maybe we'll find out more next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


	12. Calling Princess Pretty Pants

**AN: First off, just want to start by saying I know a probably semi-minimal amount about the frayed relationship between Germany and Greece. Other than that it's frayed due to a large scale economic downturn known as the 'European Sovereign Debt Crisis' that started in 09. There's more to go in depth about, but let's just leave it at 'both countries blame the other a little bit.' I have an opinion, but I don't want to share it right now. I'll be writing the Greek agent as favoring his nation, and the later German/EU agent as favoring his/her own. You know, like how it actually is. I'm aware that the economy has shifted up and down since then, but the relationship is still a bit frosty from what I can find.**

 **Also, this mural is real. Google creepy DIA mural. I love Denver, but I still have no clue what's up with that. I think they're removing it now, but still.**

 **So, Digimon: ReArise. It's a fun diversion. I like that in the story at least there's a focus on one Digimon partner in Herissmon as opposed to it being 'one Tamer, a dozen Digimon' even if the gameplay itself is the opposite. It's fun for what it is: a Digimon themed gacha game.**

 **Anyways, responses!**

 **To G3r1k: Yeah, I love how little BG understands the real world. Mainly because of his own stubborn refusal to listen.**

 **To smartalec121: Yeah, of the four Digimon seasons I watched and know, Frontier is the one I remember the least. Even as a little kid I remembered thinking it was a step down from how cool Tamers was. So thanks for helping me. I went back and slightly changed what May said so it makes sense without altering the scene or damaging the most important thematic link there: Tasuke's fixation on his parents. I'm happy you liked the last chapter. There are going to be a few of those sprinkled throughout the chapter. For one, it can't be 'Go go go!' all the time. And for another, it wouldn't be believable that they could become friends unless they were actually, you know, shown becoming friends. And as for the Tamers, you'll be getting a quick glimpse at one you asked about earlier. I mean, everyone needs a fun aunt, right?**

 **Well, enjoy everybody!**

 _ **Episode 12: Calling Princess Pretty Pants**_

Adrian Chiros wasn't 'supposed' to be in the United States. The European Union's joint Digimon agency, _Machina_ , wasn't approving of any mission as of yet that revolved around the capture or elimination of America's Digidestined. Not that it was going to stop his home nation of Greece; their relationship with the EU was... frayed, after all. His homeland wanted some form of leverage to hold in their dealings with the other nations in the Union. This Digidestined kid would be a gold mine of leverage, but just one extra Digidestined Digivice would be more than enough. He didn't want to kill whoever this kid was, but he'd do it if he had to.

He turned towards a mural on the wall and cringed. "Amerikanoi treloi," he muttered as he gazed at the unnerving mural of sobbing women and refugees in the shadow of a gas masked soldier with a scimitar and a rifle held with the stock on his left shoulder. He grimaced at the large, horrific soldier. "If this is how they greet travelers, I am not excited to see how this agent will greet me."

He shuddered and turned, heading over to baggage claim and grabbing his back, ignoring the rustling in his backpack until he was finally in his rental car. He placed his backpack into the passenger seat and opened its zipper further, letting the pink sphere with no legs or arms poke out. "Finally! I was getting hungry!" Koromon shouted in relief as he poked out of the pack, his Greek flawless from a couple years of practice. He turned to his partner. "At least we're finally here." He sniffed the air. "Air's a bit thin. We'll have to take that into consideration when we fight. They'll be used to it."

"That will be an issue," Chiros agreed. He hit the highway and chuckled. "Not for you, but I will need to get used to it."

"Wow... it's so wide and open!" Koromon muttered as he glanced out of the window. "It's like the Digital World but with color and trees! Oh, I could get lost running here..."

"You'll need your four legs for that," Chiros pointed out, earning a dry look from his tiny partner. "Oh, calm down. I'll try to find a place for you to run. I wouldn't keep a Centarumon from a field, after all."

Koromon rolled his eyes and looked out the window again. "I wonder who this Digidestined is. I know you think a kid, but I really hope not," he said with a frown. "We Digimon were made for kids, after all."

Chiros shrugged. "Digidestined tend to be younger," the agent pointed out. "But I agree. Beating children in a fight isn't that much of a challenge."

Koromon wisely pointed out, "Even children can be dangerous when underestimated."

Chiros shook his head. "Maybe, but they're still new at this," he countered. "I doubt they have even managed to Digivolve yet. We'll find out who this Digidestined is, get them alone, and take them down. We'll drop them off at the embassy and find you a nice place to gallop around to your heart's content."

Koromon scowled at his partner's blasé attitude towards their mission. "Adrian, what if they're not a child?"

"We'll find that out after we scout. If it looks to be too much trouble, we'll just call in for backup. Does that sound better?"

Koromon leaned to the side, considering the deal. "Well... Promise?"

"Promise," Chiros said with a chuckle. "After all, I'd rather not die, either!"

 **X X X**

It was weird, going back to school after almost being killed. It really made going to class and being half an hour late – again – a lot less important sounding. Everyone around us... didn't _know_. Not about Digimon, or D-CARD, or that apparently we were all inches away from Digital warfare every day. For the first time, I felt a little unsure about the direction we were heading. If we managed to open the Firewall separating our world from the Digital World, then I wouldn't put it past any government alive to start a war. If any one country had access to more numerous or more powerful Digimon, it might not end well. Was rescuing my parents worth that kind of risk? When I thought back to all the years without them... I decided I didn't care. Of course, I wasn't exactly going to voice these thoughts. Davis might not have cared, but May would have. Of course, she's smarter than me. Maybe she'd already thought about it.

Speaking of my two friends and school, the chill of october was finally getting to everyone. Davis had started to wear a sweatshirt material brown blazer over his button up, and May had a white beanie covering her ears. When it started snowing at the end of this month we'd probably end up changing further, but early October was chilly enough. I liked it. Better fit my style than the heat. What it did not fit, however, was May's grumpy glare. "Who crapped in your pumpkin spice this morning?" I asked as she glared at me and Davis from the other side of our lunch table, chin on the table and her arms splayed across its face. Her eyes narrowed when I asked the question. "Oh, come on? What's wrong?"

"We've been so busy that I hadn't noticed," she began sullenly, "but we missed the fall trip to Six Flags _and_ Homecoming!"

I rolled my eyes. "You're such a girl."

"Proudly!" she shouted angrily. "Besides, wouldn't you have preferred funnel cake to Ogremon?" She crossed her arms and turned to glare out at the graying sky.

Davis chuckled. "That doesn't sound like a difficult choice," he agreed. "One stinks a lot less."

"I thought that the stink would never wash out of Dory's fur," May muttered with a disgusted shiver. "Thankfully, she's got her own stink to worry about."

"And for some reason, BlackGuilmon smelled like rain and smoke when I dropped by this morning," I said, confused. "I don't know why, though."

"He lit the couch on fire last night." Davis glanced over at me and laughed. "He thought he could load it, and instead he got bath-by-sprinkler. I had to hide him and "

I stared in disbelief at him, then sighed and shook my head. "That explains why he didn't want to talk," I said before letting out a groan. "I probably need to explain a few things to him."

"Like what's food, what's furniture?" Davis supplied.

May piped up next with, "Or what a sprinkler system is?"

"Yeah, I should probably do that before he ends up soaking us all down," I agreed. "That would ruin my cards."

"Do it before it starts snowing," May growled. She threw her hands up at the sky. "If I get pneumonia because of the little _Troll_ , me and Dory will show him the other side of what loading looks like."

"I feel like that's vaguely hypocritical," I pointed out, only to quiet down when she growled again. "Fine, fine. I'll talk to him. Don't get all offended."

"You do know she's significantly better than you in hand to hand, right?" Davis supplied under his breath.

I blinked. "Oh... I'll definitely talk to him, May!" I said, turning to her and becoming way more enthusiastic about it.

"Smooth," Davis said, shaking his head. He ran a hand through his hair. "In other news, I got briefed this morning on an... issue."

May and I traded a glance before looking at him. "What kind of issue?" I asked. He sounded worried, which meant we were worried.

"It seems Verrater managed to leak the info that a Digidestined is here to whatever country he was planning on selling you to," Davis explained. "And when one country knows, it doesn't take long for the rest to know."

"Wha – no!" I groaned, leaning forward and letting my head slam into the table. "I thought we'd at least have a little while before we were hunted again."

"We'll need to work on setting up traps tomorrow night," Davis explained. May and I groaned again, and she let her own head hit the table. "I know it sucks, but wouldn't you rather have one cold, bad night where you live than a ton of cold, bad nights as a corpse?"

"Fine," May grumbled. "We'll do your stupid preparations so we don't die, _Mom_."

"That doesn't sound like gratitude for me taking my time to stay out all night in the cold with you..." Davis pointed out, shaking his index finger at May. "I could always leave you to do it yourselves and spend time at home by myself."

"Please don't," I begged. "We'll be done way faster with you there!"

Davis sighed. "Of course I'll help," he responded. "I was joking."

"You... can do that?" May wondered dryly.

"Wha – I – Yes!" he cried out, causing the both of us to laugh. " _Dios mio_ , Huckmon's right. Look, it's my job to help you and teach you. Besides, we'll get further before we have to quit if I'm there. You guys would have no idea what you're doing without me after all."

"I'd die on my own trap," May agreed.

"I'd be the one accidentally tripping it," I added on simply. "And I'd get there late. I mean, I _will_ get there late, but I mean even more."

Davis rolled his eyes. "So you'd basically get fifteen minutes in."

"We'd be lucky to get that much time," May countered. She glanced at me. "Given your... affliction, I'd say maybe ten."

"Eight at best," I replied solemnly.

"Ah, of course," May replied. She turned to Davis. "KayKay. We'll be there on time. Wait, no... _I'll_ be there on time."

"I won't be late!" I protested.

I, uh... I would be late.

 **X X X**

BlackGuilmon was not what those few who knew him would call 'patient.' His fighting tactics – or rather, their usual lack thereof – alone spoke volumes about that fact. BlackGuilmon's lack of patience extended to his sense of humor, which was most important in the current moment when both Huckmon and Dorimon were standing inches from his face, taunting him with various names. BG popped up a lot, and the pun 'Hee-gee Bee-gees' along with it. So, it really should not have come as a surprise to those two when he eventually jumped out of his bed – a half burnt couch cushion he'd been left the day before when the couch had been replaced – and snapped at them. He growled and charged after the surprised and screaming Digimon, smoke rising from his nostrils and trailing behind him. "I told you not to call me that!" BlackGuilmon snarled at Huckmon and Dorimon while they sprinted through the warehouse, screaming and laughing at him.

They thought it was a game. A _game!_ They had picked at him all day and now they were treating his terrible and swift vengeance like it was a game? How dare they!? He would load the both of them for this! He angled after Dorimon first. That one had been asking for this for weeks, and now she'd get what was coming to her! He lashed out with his tail and slammed it into Huckmon, catching the white Digimon in the back of the head. The armored dinosaur yelped and was thrown forward, tumbling across the ground until he slammed into the wall with a yelp.

BlackGuilmon snorted with laughter before he returned his attention to Dorimon, sprinting around the new couch. She rushed beneath a table, and he slammed through it, sending the plastic soaring until it clattered against the ground behind him. "You big idiot! You can't make a turn without knocking something over?" Dorimon taunted as she scrambled and slid around the next corner.

BlackGuilmon simply shoved the couch out of the way, gaining ground. "Keep laughing," he growled, the smoke flying from his jaw as he spoke.

"If you don't stop with the smoke, the sprinklers'll go off again. I don't think they'll like that!" Dorimon shouted, turning around the couch again and charging towards the recovering Huckmon.

BlackGuilmon was right on her heels as she sprinted past Huckmon, and lowered his head. Huckmon blinked in surprise and was thrown into the air again, hitting the ground with a massive, metallic 'clang.' "I really thought that would slow you down more," Dorimon muttered under her breath as she made a break for an open door. Maybe he'd have to slow down running through that?

When he barreled through the wall, she realized that the plaster separating the break room from the main space wasn't really as thick and strong as she had assumed. "Oh, no! No!" she shouted as the massive jaws grew closer and closer. In this wide open space, his longer legs could really gain on her. She darted to the right, trying to zig zag away so his speed wouldn't matter as much, but without objects there to slow him he was able to use his massive tail to maintain his balance and turn almost as fast as she could. "Nonono!" She yelped and jumped as his jaws snapped shut just behind her, teeth scraping along her fur. "NONONO!"

" _I'm going to get you!_ " BlackGuilmon sang behind her before slamming his jaws shut again. Dorimon shouted out in surprise and her tiny, stubby legs crossed and she tumbled head over heels, screaming in surprise and terror as she spun around and around until slamming into the wall. Tiny licorice sticks danced in her mind until a large, black foot suddenly was on top of her. BlackGuilmon grinned and leaned down to her terrified face, smoke rising from his maw. "Got you..."

Dorimon began to hyperventilate. _Maybe I shouldn't have made fun of him that much_ , she thought as his mouth opened wide. "D-don't!"

BlackGuilmon's mouth slammed shut and he stood up tall, though his foot remained on top of her. "I promised Tasuke I wouldn't," he growled, even if he was still giving it a good thought. _Would he really miss her? Maybe if I just loaded her now..?_ He finally groaned and removed his foot. "Grr... Like this you wouldn't even be a snack. It isn't worth the trouble..." Huckmon charged in, flames rising in his own jaws until he saw that BlackGuilmon was walking away from the still wide eyed and prone Dorimon. BlackGuilmon stopped next to Huckmon and narrowed his eyes. "I never promised Tasuke I wouldn't load _you_." Letting the threat hang in the air, BlackGuilmon glared into Huckmon's eyes waiting for him to break. He didn't. Finally, he turned away to return to his burnt, smoke scented cushion.

Huckmon watched him go for a moment, then bolted to Dorimon's side. "Did he hurt you?"

Dorimon blinked and rolled over to her feet. "He didn't hurt me?" she wondered more than responded. She watched him go through the hole he'd made in the wall and frowned in confusion.

"Not for lack of trying, it seems," Huckmon muttered as he circled her, checking for injuries. "Lucky he promised Taj he wouldn't hurt you."

Dorimon frowned and shook her head. "No, that's not it... I think... I think he was having _fun_ ," she muttered. "He did a singsong voice while chasing me! I think he liked doing it!"

"He liked hunting you and you find this _good_?" Huckmon asked dryly. "I think you might be crazy."

Dorimon glared up at the armored Digimon. "No, I think he liked _playing,_ G-Mon." She turned back to the snoring Digimon. "Somewhere deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep..."

Huckmon raised one armored eyebrow as she continued to chant the word 'deep' more and more, the term eventually bleeding together. "Uh, you going to finish soon?"

"... deep, deep – Great, you interrupted me!" Dorimon shouted, annoyed. She glanced up. "Let's see. Deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep..."

Huckmon sighed, but decided to stay silent this time. Better she not start over again and waste more of his time.

"... deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, _deeeeeeep_ , very deep, deep down under all of that Jerkmon, is a nice Digimon!" Dorimon finally finished, stamping her right foot down excitedly on the last 'deep' for emphasis. She looked back up at Huckmon. "What do you think?"

"That probably wasn't enough 'deeps,'" he replied dryly.

Hearing his tone, Dorimon grinned evilly. "So you think it'd be better if it was, 'Deep, deep, deep...'"

Huckmon groaned as he realized his mistake. He was in deep, deep, deep, deep... deep, _very deeeeeep_ trouble.

 **X X X**

I bit my lip and rubbed the file against the connecting ends of the semi-automatic crossbow's pieces, making sure they'd fit together without easily sliding apart. Maybe latches were in order for the second draft? Yeah, that was probably a good idea I should've thought of $50 of metal ago. I wonder if I could expense this... I brought it up and blew some of the dust of the filing off before making sure it fit. Workable, but I'd have to make sure I didn't screw up the sizes and over-do the compression of the pieces when making the second model. Another note that would have been nice $50 ago. I picked up another piece and began filing.

It was nice work. Soothing, after a hard day of training with Davis and May. And some kind of weird tension between the Digimon. Dorimon wasn't even annoying BlackGuilmon for once! Something had to have been wrong, but not even Huckmon would talk about it. And between him and Dorimon it was hard to get a word in edgewise, sometimes. I connected the parts again and brought the sling around to its latch. "Moment of truth," I muttered before I put in a trio of steel spheres into the clip. I turned on the wall of bricks and pulled the trigger, letting the metal sphere fly. It hit the brick with enough force to break a bone and bounced off, the force of the sphere's forward momentum after the shot pulled a lever forward at the back, arming it again. I fired twice more to make sure, grinning as the ammo hit the wall. "And who said you can't improve on old designs? Wikipedia and Zhuge, you're the best!"

Then the door began to open, and I tossed it under the workbench. Ignoring what sounded like metal denting and falling apart, I rushed towards the brick and unstacked it before kicking the ammo away just moments before Henry came in. "I was wondering where you'd gone off to," Henry said. He walked in and Momentai sprinted between his legs, barking at me until I picked him up to pet him. Henry shook his head at the dog. "I swear, every terrier is just as much of an attention hog."

"I'm sure the one you had as a kid wasn't nearly as bad," I replied. He just half grimaced, unsure. "Or... maybe he was." I shrugged. "Anyways, what's up?"

"Just came to check on you. You've been acting weird lately."

Digimon will do that to you. Of course, he'd know _that_ wouldn't he? Speaking of, maybe this would be the perfect time to try and milk him for some information about everything he knew that I didn't. In a way that didn't immediately give away that I had a Digimon. "What were my parents like?" I asked finally. I put Momentai down and fiddled with the goggles on my forehead. "You know, like... what did they do for money? Or how did you guys all meet? Why, uh, why'd they like Digimon?"

Henry stared at me for a moment, eyes sad. "I guess it has been a long time." He turned away from me and stared at the garage door. He fixed his glasses and turned back to me, frowning. "Your parents and I all met when we were younger than you. One fall in Shinjuku, we just kind of... fell into each other. Your dad and I were in different classes at the same school, and your mom was... Back then, the Digimon card game was surprisingly big. She was the best. It took a while, but Digimon brought us all together."

Digimon brought us all together? I bet he thought that was funny.

"Your mom used to love to make fun of your dad, though. He loved the show, I loved the games, and she loved the cards. That meant he was the... hah... the 'Gogglehead.' She was cool and collected and he was busy drawing his own Digimon, their Champion and Ultimate forms, and everything. She thought he was a dork until we all met up on college break." He laughed to himself again, eyes glazing over in memories. "If it weren't for Rena – they'd never have gotten together. Rena, she was your mom's room mate."

That didn't sound weird, huh? He turned to me and his face got weird. "Your dad's Digimon drawings, I think I still have them." He crossed his arms. "Guilmon was always his favorite. Big red dinosaur."

I couldn't help myself when he said that. I flinched and coughed as I swallowed my spit.. Guilmon? Oh, this was a test. He wanted to see if I knew anything about Digimon. Which meant that he knew about Digimon! I was right! Which meant... I think I knew my Dad's Digimon partner! "Sounds like an Agumon ripoff," I muttered instead of the thousand questions running through my head. Was it me or was it getting way too easy to lie to Henry?

Henry _seemed_ to take my statement at face value. He was a little... spacey sometimes, usually with whatever he was doing in the basement. "Well, your father was a Gogglehead. Everything was based on Agumon or Veemon," he explained, chuckling. "But all that drawing was useful. You got your talent from him, and he was starting to make money selling designs. Your mother on the other hand never lost her skill with cards. She won a few poker tournaments if I remember."

"But what did they go to college for?" I asked, deciding to throw something in to get away from the Digimon thing.

Henry frowned and looked up. "Hm... Your father definitely went for art. That was a hard sell with his parents," he recounted slowly. "And your mother... economics."

I raised an eyebrow. That seemed out of left field. "Uh... what?"

"It was the closest class she could get into when her mother visited and tried to get her to follow in her footsteps," Henry explained. He laughed nostalgically. "She _never_ liked that idea. Of course, she'd always had a knack for understanding what people wanted, so she took to it. Game theory, specifically."

This could be my chance! I mean, Henry never talked about my parents. "What happened to my grandparents, then?" I wondered. I leaned back against the workbench. "Why didn't they take me in?"

Then he shut down. "They were too old," he said, obviously lying. He glanced down at his watch. "Hmph... I have some things I need to work on. Why don't you head over to Jaarin's for dinner. I'll call ahead."

Great. Just great.

He looked up from his watch and his frown deepened. "And I'll reschedule your haircut. May's dog's running away meant you missed the last one," he said. He walked up and examined my hair. "Your roots are showing." Remembering where he was, he laughed and tried to joke, saying, "Orange and blue works for the Broncos, not for your head!"

"Right," I muttered. Ever since learning my parents really were out there, I hadn't put any thought to it. I mean, I'd colored my hair to get away from my mom. "I don't know, maybe I was thinking of not coloring it? You know, a change up?"

Henry stared for a moment, something going on behind his eyes. "Okay," he agreed, smile a moment too slow. He ruffled my hair. "You still need a haircut, at least."

 **X X X**

Henry stared at the workbench in the garage after Tasuke had left, the last moments of the conversation playing over in his mind. The whole thing was odd. He'd hesitated too much, been too careful. And how much he cared about his parents after so long hating them was... sudden. Every time he thought he was sure that Tasuke didn't have any connection to Digimon, something happened to make him think the other way. And now he wanted to let his hair return to his mother's color? If it weren't for the danger and the Digimon he suspected, he might have been overjoyed. But he'd been making sure Tasuke was coloring his hair for almost a decade and a half, now, because it was believable that Tasuke was his adopted son. But with red eyes and bright, ginger hair? HYPNOS would know it was him in a heartbeat. The son of the legendary Tamers Takato and Rika Matsuki.

He'd been able to get D-CARD to keep them safe so far. Not even HYPNOS, with all their power, was reckless enough to attack the US at the moment. Though depending on how many Ultimate or – he shivered – _Megas_ they had by now, knowing a Matsuki was there could change that fast. Henry had been forced to run from Japan and use D-CARD's resources to create a completely fake background for the kid just to keep him safe. If any spies existed for HYPNOS – for almost any country, for that matter – then the danger might never end. And if Tasuke did turn out to be a Tamer, it would only mean becoming a target he wasn't ready for.

No, there was no if. Not if Henry was being honest with himself. Tasuke had recognized the name Guilmon, and as far as Henry knew the cartoon, cards, games, or whatever else there was had never had a 'Guilmon' show up in Digimon media. And a BlackGuilmon obviously was meaningless in a world without a Guilmon. Tasuke barely remembered his parents, so there was no way he really remembered their Digimon. Tasuke was almost definitely one of the two new Tamers, and Gethen had been hiding it from him. "Son of a bitch," Henry hissed to himself. He slammed his fists onto the workbench. "Son of a bitch!"

He turned around and sat against the workbench. "Now I know how Dad felt all those years ago," Henry groaned, annoyed. He took his glasses off and placed them on the table before rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Well, I obviously can't confront him about it. If he's working for Gethen, they could make him disappear anywhere. I need..."

Henry let his chin hit his chest. "Oh, I'm going to have to call her, aren't I?"

Momentai ran up to his feet and barked at his face, panting excitedly as if he knew exactly what was coming. "And the biggest difference between you and Terriermon rears its head," Henry said accusingly. He looked up at the ceiling trying to force the idea from his mind. He didn't want to bother her, after all. She was doing well for herself. And given Yamaki's final gift to their father had been to delete her information as a Tamer and that she had been in the United States during the whole... event, she was the lucky one. Lopmon could pass as a... very large rabbit, especially when she was hidden away in Suzie's... house.

And now that she was famous, calling her was always an event. Digimon's resurgence in popularity had meant a lot of things. One of them was more shows and games, a lot of places for a tri-lingual voice actor to make her mark. She still did the anime in English, and was working her way into Disney movies. She was finally fulfilling her dream of being a princess.

Henry glared at the garage door for a moment, trying to come up with a way to get out of doing this. But he couldn't think of one. The kids loved Suzie, and Lopmon would be able to lead him to any Digimon that were around here. He groaned and pulled his phone out, calling his younger sister. "Suzie! Yeah, it's... been a while. Yeah, Tasuke is... well, he's actually why I was calling you. Yeah. Yup. Suze – Suzie! I think Tasuke has a Digimon." The other side of the line finally went quiet for a moment. "Yeah, I could use your help. Think you can take a break for a little while and come out here? Good. Yeah, Lopmon would be great. Thanks. Wait, tomorrow? H-How? Suze. Suze! What? Hello?"

Henry sighed and lowered his phone to glare at the screen. "She hung up on me," he said in disbelief. He turned towards his excited dog. "Oh, crap. She's coming tomorrow." He surged straight up, forgetting his glasses and rushing into the house. "I need to fix up the house! The counters, the bathrooms, the... Everything!"

He froze and turned to glare at his dog. "Momentai," he told himself with a small smile. "Yeah. Momentai."

 **X X X**

Jen and Cadetmon had finally made it to Denver. Weeks of travel, killing an agent in self-defense, and they had finally made it just as the first snow began to fall. "Have you picked up the scent of any Digimon?" Jen asked her partner as she stared out the motel window, scanning for a D-CARD assault squad. So far, so good. She turned back to her partner devouring a six pack of pudding cups on the table. He glanced up and blinked. "You haven't been focusing on that, have you?"

"I already checked, Jennifer," he said, dropping the cup in his tiny hands. "There's just too much to smell in a new place like this. It will take me a little time to sort through it all."

Jennifer nodded. "Right, how could I think you weren't being all business?" she asked. She laughed as she continued looking out the window. "Looks like we're safe for now. I can't see anyone out there that's looking for us."

"Doesn't mean they aren't there," Cadetmon noted in reply.

Jen turned to shoot him a dry look. "Which is why I've double and triple checked." Her features changed from annoyed to worried. "Of course, without a good alarm system we are kind of sitting ducks. Even though you can go Champion now, we're screwed if more than one Champion level agent attacks us at once."

"We'll just have to figure that out later," Cadetmon muttered after a few moments of thought. "I think an alarm system is our first order of business. We can't find this 'hazard' if we're dead."

"I'll also need to find a job while we're here," Jennifer said sullenly. "We need to pay the bills for this... castle."

"Yes, Ma'am, that's a good idea," the tiny Digimon agreed, placing a stubby arm on his chin. "But where? It would be best if we could find a way for you to spy on large groups of likely candidates."

"So kids," the former agent noted.

"No. I mean likely candidates," Cadetmon corrected.

She raised an eyebrow. "... So kids."

Cadetmon sighed in defeat. "Yes. Children are the likely candidates," he agreed. The Digimon frowned and put his tiny, stubby arms on his hips. "And probably with some sort of connection to the First Biomerger."

"Yeah, you said that before. What is that?"

He looked over at her. "You've never heard of them?" he asked, surprised at her lack of information. "Of Biomerging?" Jennifer shook her head. Cadetmon sighed. He supposed it made sense that D-CARD kept them all in the dark. "Well, I only really know rumors. If Gethen hadn't responded to me calling him the First Biomerger, I'd think it was legend."

"Get on with it," Jennifer said, walking over to their discarded things and grabbing a beer. "Well?"

"They could become Digimon."

"Like the show? Pioneers, or whatever?" the woman asked as she cracked the drink open.

Cadetmon shook his head. "No, not like that. This was... different." He tapped his helmet for a moment. "They could fuse with their Digimon in order to reach Mega. It was called Bio-merging, to become one digital-biological being. And the first one to do it was the Crimson Knight, who was born from the data of a dragon that devoured the Digital World, all so he could defeat a Demon."

"A Demon and a Dragon?" Jennifer asked in awe.

Cadetmon shrugged. "Probably exaggeration. It was before my time... before the Sovereigns vanished."

Jennifer nodded and took a drink, then froze and slowly swallowed it. "W-wait... the Digimon and the human became one Digimon?" She turned to look at the tiny creature on the table. "Uh..."

"Believe me, I have no desire to do it unless there is no other choice," he said dryly. "We're friends and partners, but that seems..."

"Intimate," Jennifer agreed hoarsely. "Yeah, I agree. Let's try to not do that."

"Given that no one has reached Mega since then, I think we're safe." Cadetmon returned his attention to the pudding. "If something belonging to the First Biomerger was found in the Digital World and brought here, it must be his child we're looking for."

"Then we're looking for a Japanese kid. Narrows it down a lot." Jennifer nodded, confident in their reasoning. "Either he's been raised by his mom or someone else took him in." She laughed dryly. "We're forgetting the biggest thing, Cadetmon."

"And what's that, hm?" he asked, reaching into the pudding cup for more.

"Gethen has the Hazard and the kid. We just need to be on the lookout for one of the best agents in D-CARD," Jennifer said with a wide grin. "We'll find him easily!"

Cadetmon scoffed. "You really think that's a _good_ thing?"

"No, but we have to see the bright side, right, Grumpymon?" Jen asked, waving her beer at her partner. "No se worrying about it when we can't do anything about it, right?"

"A bit devil may care for my tastes, but... I suppose you're right. Until we know more we won't be able to do anything." He glanced over at the TV set. "You... want to watch something?"

"God, I was hoping you'd ask."

 **X X X**

 _So, that Gethen guy has let Tasuke's secret get out. What is it with people in governments being so stupid when it comes to Digimon and Tamers? Like seriously, between this guy and Yamaki they're setting the bar pretty low at 'putting people in deadly danger.' At least Yamaki had the sense to keep Henry's little sister out of everything._

 _Speaking of, I'm pretty ticked that she got to keep her Digimon and live in the real world! Seriously, me and the Gogglehead get stuck in the Digital World for fifteen years, but Princess Pretty Pants gets to have it all? Ugh, whatever. Gogglehead would probably say to 'be happy for her, at least.'_

 _At least she's going to get Henry in on all this. I hate to admit it, but he could keep a cooler head than me or Takato. If Suzie manages to figure everything out and tells him, then maybe we can get this show on the road and I can come home!_

 _Well, guess we'll see more on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


	13. Her Majesty:Is the Rabbit Outta the Bag?

**AN: Hey guys, and Happy Halloween! Having a good time? I am! It's been snowing for three days here, a given for Halloween time over here. I love the snow, even if not everyone does.**

 **Response time!**

 **To G3r1k: I think intimate really depends on the outlook. If a Tamer and Digimon aren't ready for it, it certainly seems unnerving. If they are ready for it, it just seems like working together. And that's nothing compared to people fusing in Digimon, like in Frontier. That weirded me out even as a kid!**

 **To Smartalec121: Suzie's great! She did get the short end of the stick on characterization outside of an inability to pronounce 'R's, but my sister acted like her other than the 'R' thing when she was six. Still, lot of space to grow from a six year old to a thirty something, right? I hope that my take on her does a good job with letting her grow while paying homage to that little six year old from the show. As for when/if the other tamers will show up, we'll definitely see most of them when the story of how Takato, Rika, and Ryo ended up in the Digital World is told.**

 **Now, enjoy and see you soon!**

 _ **Episode 13: Her Majesty: Is the Rabbit Out of the Bag?**_

I don't think I had ever been this exhausted and dirty at the same time. My hands were raw and covered in dirt, and my legs were feeling like jelly run through a blender. And I was cold. Freezing. May wasn't much better off, and the two of us were excited to hang out for the night. School had some teacher service day the next morning, so we had the day off and we were looking forward to the day off. "I hope Davis is suffering like this," I forced out angrily while we slowly trudged away from our trucks and towards my front door. My feet dragged and I nearly tripped over the step. "Ugh... never mind. I hope he has it worse."

"On one hand, I hope I never see that place again," May grumbled angrily. She glared down at where one of our traps had sprung on her leg, leaving her coated with mud – lucky since it could have broken her leg if we'd set it up right. "And on the other, I'll be really pissed if we never actually use those traps, dammit."

"I get you," I grumbled. I fumbled with my keys for moment, finally managing to unlock the door. I pushed it open. "Jesus, let's do anything that doesn't involve doing anything. TV?"

"Yes," May agreed through a yawn. "I don't even want to move my thumbs."

"Where were you guys so late?" Henry asked as we came through the door, eyebrow raised. He was leaning against the table, looking half smug behind his glasses.

"Work project," May said. Not technically a lie.

He chuckled. "What do you two do?"

"We were setting sensors up for a project in the park," I explained smoothly. Wow, also not completely a lie. Nice! "It lasted longer than we'd hoped, sorry. Why?"

"Because it's not nice to keep your family waiting!" May and I popped up. That voice... it could only be – Henry's younger sister popped out of the kitchen, grinning wide. She was wearing pink, as usual. A long blouse with brown jeans and boots, a huge pink and brown back on her right arm. Her jacket was in her other hand, a pink and brown rabbit with its tongue sticking out on the back. Her hair was long and loose with bangs ending just above her eyes. "Prince and Princess!"

"Aunt Suzie!" May shouted.

"Suze!" I echoed, charging forward with May to hug her. The woman laughed and hugged us back before pushing to arm's length. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I just had to come and visit you guys. It's been forever!" she explained, her huge grin never leaving her face. She gestured at herself dramatically. "And, of course, I needed to bring _gifts_." May and I lit up even more, the cold and aches forgotten in the excitement. She reached into her massive purse and rooted around for a while, biting her lower lip and focusing. "Hm... no... no... Ah!" She pulled her hand out of the purse and beamed as she handed our gifts, wrapped in red for me and purple for May, to us. "I couldn't resist."

May and I traded a grin and tore into the gifts, sending wrapping paper flying. "Guys, hello?" Henry said while we shredded the paper.

"Thanks," I stated hurriedly.

"Yeah, that," May agreed, also barely paying attention.

Suze laughed and walked over to Henry, grabbing his cheek. "Oh, it's okay. They're still just kids." She let go and patted his cheek. "Isn't that right, _Henwy_?"

We didn't pay much more attention to that, as we'd finally gotten the gifts open. Suze always got the best stuff! She was an actress, and she told us last time she was getting to play some Disney princess, which meant she was hitting the big time. This meant, more importantly, big time gifts. I grinned at the box in my hands, seeing this time's big gift. Suze had given me a carbide saw that cost almost $400! Henry would never spring for something like that in a million years! "Nice, I'd been looking for something to make clean metallic cuts!" I shouted in excitement. This would make the second version of the crossbow way cleaner and faster to make than what I'd been using. I hugged Suze again. "This is the best!"

May grinned even wider than me. "An 8 core processor? Now I can -" she stopped herself from saying something about reading the Digivice's data. "Aunt Suzie, this is awesome!" She hugged her again, too.

Henry gaped at us. "Th- Suzie, that's a $400 processor!" he shouted in disbelief. He looked over at me and narrowed his eyes until my grin slowly disappeared. "And I'm guessing yours is too, Tasuke?"

I chuckled sheepishly. "I, uh..."

Henry sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Suzie, you can't just buy these kids gifts that expensive," he grumbled. He was wrong, of course. She did it, and I would never say no to a gift this expensive. "It's too much."

Still hugging us, Suze laughed. "Henry, you're just jealous I'm the fun one." She grinned at us. "Even when we were kids, Henry was a Grumpy Gus! Always so serious. His best friend always told him: _momentai_."

Momentai barked and ran up, wagging his tail at the mention of his name. Suze let go of us and leaned down to the dog. "Oh, yes, like you!" she said in a baby voice. "Wittwe cutie! I wuv you! I _wuv_ you so much!" Momentai barked even more excitedly and began to lunge for Suze's face, licking aggressively and eliciting a fit of giggles from her.

Henry groaned and rubbed his nose again, pushing his glasses up. "I feel like I'm being ignored."

"You are," Suze explained simply.

I chuckled at Henry. "Sorry, Henry! Just the way it is!" I explained.

"So what are you actually doing here?" May asked Suze. She was still staring at her computer part, not that I wasn't staring at my saw. "I thought you were in California for recording."

"My part was done for a few days, so I thought I'd come out and visit. Do I need a reason other than that?" she asked, standing and turning towards us with her hands straight up. "I love my little princes and princesses!"

I sighed but decided to bear the nickname. For a $400 saw, I could deal with her prince and princess thing. "We love you too, Suze," I replied earnestly. "You're the best."

"I know," she said, placing her outstretched fingers on her heart. "The absolute best."

"Now, we need to get ready. May, you should head home to get clean." Henry gestured at her, then me. "And you, go shower. We're going out to eat dinner with May's family and neither of you look presentable."

I glanced down at my mud, leaf, and ice covered body. "... Yeah, okay," I admitted with a shrug. I nodded at May. "See you there."

Suze waved us both off before heading to the kitchen to grab a warm paper towel to clean off the dirt we'd gotten on her. "See you in a bit, Prince and Princess!"

 **X X X**

Henry watched Taj go upstairs and waited for the bathroom door to shut before turning to his sister. "Well?"

Her purse rustled for a moment before a brown and pink rabbit like creature popped out of the purse, looking pensive. The Digimon's long, wing like ears ended with a glove-like pattern of pink with three fingers. She had a pink collar, as well as 'gloves' and 'socks' of the same color. Three brown horns poked out of the top of her head. "Well..."

"Well, what, Lopmon?" Suzie asked. She walked over, tossing the paper towel in the trash, and leaned on the counter next to her purse. "Did you smell a Digimon?"

"I don't know," Lopmon finally admitted. She tapped the side of her head and frowned. "There were too many smells to tell." She glanced up at the humans and shrugged. "I can't quite do as good as Guilmon in this regard, after all."

"The nose on that one was one of a kind," Suzie admitted before grinning. "But this won't be a problem. This just means there's no Digimon in this house! That should mean Tasuke's not involved, right?"

"Maybe," he muttered. "But even Takato wasn't airheaded enough to keep Guilmon at home. Neither of the Digimon I was warned about are small enough to keep here, so maybe he keeps it somewhere else?"

"That is possible," Lopmon agreed. "Hm... Perhaps we will be able to tell more at Jaarin's home. If there is a sign of a Digimon there, I should be able to smell them. Otherwise, I am not quite sure what we should do. We would be searching for quite some time without any clues as to where the Digimon could be."

"And that's assuming May's even involved," Suzie pointed out. She reached out and scratched Lopmon's head, eliciting a happy sigh from the Digimon. "Maybe there won't be anything there. Just because someone told you there are Digimon here doesn't mean she's got the Digimon."

Henry didn't respond for a while, thinking it through. "How long can you stay?" he finally wondered.

Suzie bit her lip. "Um..."

Lopmon cut in, "A few days. Four at the most." She shrugged. "If we can't find out anything by then, we'll have to leave until January."

Henry sighed and leaned against the wall. "So either we find out now, or if it involves them then they're in too deep for us to do anything by the next time you come back."

"Oh, I'm sure it will all turn out for the best, Henry," Suzie said confidently. She shot her older brother a grin. "Come on, they're good kids. I don't think they could be involved in anything too bad, right?"

Henry knew it wouldn't be like that. He'd seen HYPNOS all those years ago, seen everything that happened when it had all fallen apart. "I hope you're right," he said instead of voicing those concerns. "I hope you're right."

"Look, if it makes you feel better, I could head over there early. See if there's anything we could find," Suzie suggested. She picked up her purse, causing Lopmon to shout in surprise and lose her balance, tumbling into its depths once more. "Sound good?"

 **X X X**

Agent Chiros drove the truck quietly and slowly through the next neighborhood, hoping that Koromon, staring out the slightly open window, would be able to catch scent of a Digimon. It wasn't a perfect idea, but it might get them a clue as to the identity of the Digidestined in America. And if it didn't, at least they would still learn more about the terrain of the area. "Have you noticed anything?"

Koromon frowned. "No, not yet," he admitted with a sigh. "Just pine trees and snow. Oh, a squirrel!"

"Not very helpful," Adrian responded with a sigh. He glanced over at the In-Training Digimon. "I suppose you're hungry, yes?"

Koromon hopped and turned from the window, a wide grin on his face. "Yes please!" he shouted, his stomach – which was basically his whole body – began to grumble.

"Okay, we can find something to eat as soon as we finish with this neighborhood. We should only have two streets left to check the entire subdivision, based on the radius of your sense of smell," the agent said. He gestured at the window. "Speaking of which..."

Koromon glanced over. "Of course," he agreed, turning and breathing in the air outside the car. "I'll tell you if I notice anything."

"Thank you, Koromon," Chiros replied. They drove in silence for a while, then: "Your English has become very good."

"It's easy to learn languages when you are a Digimon," the pink ball responded simply. "I born knowing your language, but I do not see them as different like you do. Human languages are all... the same, especially ones as close as Greek and English."

"Everything translates to ones and zeroes, then?"

Koromon made a movement that looked almost like a nod. "Kind of. It's all Greek to me," he said seriously.

Chiros snorted, drawing a confused glance from Koromon. "It is a, uh, idiom. In English it means I do not understand, but you seem to mean that you do understand."

Koromon blinked. "Oh." He laughed and shook his head. "That is funny!"

"It is," Chiros agreed, chuckling again. "I –"

" _Ade!_ " Koromon cut in excitedly. "It is over there!"

Chiros slammed on the breaks and the car stopped, Koromon yelping and rolling off his chair. " _Och!_ I'm sorry, Koromon!"

Koromon bounced up onto the chair. "It is fine, Adrian." He turned and stared out the window. "Head forward slowly." Chiros did as requested, waiting for a sign from the Digimon. After a few moments, Koromon nodded. "There. The house with the four cars."

Chiros stopped again, slower this time for his partner's sake, and turned to look. The house was a green, with a few sparse Halloween decorations up. In the driveway were two cars, one a nice but modest green SUV, the other a very nice and boxy SUV that looked like the definition of a 'safari car.' On the street were a black and red Jeep and a purple truck-SUV of some kind. "You are sure?" he asked.

"Certain. There is either a Digimon there, or there was recently."

Chiros nodded and memorized the address, then sped away. "Then we should hurry so we are not noticed," he said. "You may be an In Training Digimon, but I doubt another Digimon would miss your scent if we linger."

"Agreed," Koromon said as he peeled himself off of the seat's back. "Though, you could have started slower."

"... Sorry," Chiros muttered again. He glanced over. "What are you thinking for food?"

"American food! When in Rome, yes?" Koromon suggested excitedly.

Chiros rolled his eyes. "You know idioms when food is involved. A Digimon through and through."

"Burgers!" Koromon shouted, ignoring Chiros' words.

"Burgers," Chiros conceded.

 **X X X**

May sighed happily as she opened the door to her room, dressed in new jeans and a black shirt and heading back to her room to grab a new beanie. "I was wondering when you'd get out of the shower."

May opened her eyes and froze. Sitting on her bed with a gagged and bound Dorimon and some kind of brown and pink bunny Digimon, was Aunt Suzie. The woman smiled knowingly and nodded at the door. "Why don't you come in and say hello?" she asked cheerfully.

May swallowed her fear, then took a step in and shut the door behind her. "A-aunt Suzie." She looked over at the Digimon. "Who, uh, who's your friend?"

"Oh! Lopmon! You've met before, but... well, you were a baby. It makes sense you wouldn't remember!" Suzie said, laughing. "You used to hug her so tight and say she was your pretty princess!"

"Something I thought I wouldn't have to deal with once Suzie turned ten," Lopmon muttered under her breath. She sighed. "But Suzie, we are supposed to be intimidating now. Perhaps save the reminiscing for another time?"

Suzie blinked once and nodded, her face now resolute. "Of course," she said with a nod. She glared at the still frozen May, actually managing to change from her usual persona to one that scared May a little. "So, I guess you have a lot to tell me, don't you?

"Fine..." May said, guardedly. Suzie nodded, then gestured at the chair nearby. May stared back at her, then slowly went to grab the chair and sit across from her aunt. "What do you want to know?"

"Who is this and how long have you had... her?" Suzie began with the most basic question.

May bit her cheek, holding everything back. So Suzie sighed and waved her hands at the bedroom door. "I could just tell your parents and Henry, and -"

"No! I, uh, I mean no. I'll tell you," May cut in, jumping up and holding her hands out. She sighed and sat down, rubbing her palms along her jeans. "She's my partner, Dorimon. She showed up early in the summer running from somebody, so I got her to de-Digivolve and I've been hiding her ever since. Is that it?"

Suzie scoffed. "You know it won't be that easy, right?"

May glared at her aunt. "I could hope, right?"

Lopmon interjected now. "Where's your Digivice, then?"

May bit her cheek. She was hoping they wouldn't ask for that; that's why she didn't mention it. She took out her phone and held it out to Suzie. "It's your phone?!" Suzie asked in surprise. She took it and turned it over, staring at it. "What Henry wouldn't do to get his hands on one of these!" She reached into her purse and pulled something out, a white handheld with a screen. There was pink trim and a pink strap coming out of the top. "It's way different than ours, huh?"

"Suzie..." Lopmon said, facepalming.

Suzie grinned sheepishly and dropped her Digivice. "Right. Serious," she said. She turned and dropped her own Digivice back into the purse before placing May's on the bed beside her. She took a deep breath and looked serious once more. "How did you get Dorimon?"

"I downloaded a game on my phone. The next morning, my phone had turned into my Digivice and pointed me to her," May explained slowly, gesturing at Dorimon. "Why are you -"

"I'm asking the questions, Princess," Suzie interjected, holding her hand out and silencing her niece. "And here's the next one: who else knows?"

"Nobody," May lied.

"That's a lie."

May grimaced at her aunt. "Fine... Tasuke."

"And his Digimon?" Lopmon inquired.

May didn't respond. "So that's a yes," Lopmon told her partner.

"And who else?" Suzie asked again.

"Nobody!" May lied once more.

Suzie glared at May. "Then we can tell Henry and your parents, right now," she said with a grin.

May jumped to her feet. "No! You can't!" she begged. "Please! If you do, then -" She stopped herself.

Suzie raised an eyebrow. "Then what?" Lopmon asked.

May looked at Dorimon, hogtied on the bed. The Digimon glanced around and made a move like she was shrugging. May sighed and sat down, slowly. "Promise me you won't tell. Please."

Suzie and Lopmon traded a glance, then looked back at her. "Maybe," Suzie said evenly.

May sighed and leaned, exhausted once more, into her chair. "Taj found his Digimon last month after I forced him to download the game. When Dorimon Digivolved back to Dorumon to save Taj from a wild Digimon, that's when they found us. This government group, D-CARD," she said, ignoring the feeling that Gethen and Davis wouldn't like her talking about this. "They're some government Digimon organization. They told us we had to work for them or they'd take our Digimon. And... And the guy in charge had Taj's dad's goggles."

Suzie blinked. "So..."

"Suzie," Lopmon sighed. "Takato never would have taken those off. He must have had them when he got locked in the Digital World."

"Really? Huh, I guess it was weird Tasuke was wearing them, then," Suzie muttered. She shrugged. "Okay, so he knows about Tasuke's father enough to get a good forgery."

"They're real," May protested. "Taj thinks so, at least, and... they could force wild Digimon to bio-emerge. They can obviously get something from the Digital World, even with the Firewall there."

Lopmon's eyes widened. "They know about the Firewall!"

"Uh, not to ask for too much, but..." May gestured with her head at Dorimon. "I think she'll explode if she doesn't get a chance to talk."

Lopmon looked up at Suzie. "I suppose we could at least ungag her."

Suzie nodded. "Yeah, I didn't like doing this anyways." She turned and ungagged Dorimon.

Who immediately vomited words. "Okay, so after this they had this other Digidestined guy who beat us in a fight and kidnapped us to get to Tasuke and his Jerkmon partner, and he trains us how to be D-CARD agent now. It's pretty cool for May and Tasuke. They learn how to fight and stuff, but I mostly just sit around making fun of Jerkmon with Davis' partner, Huckmon. Oh, Davis is the Digidestined who beat us up. He's okay, mostly. Kind of a workaholic, but Huckmon is way more fun! Anyways, we got attacked by this guy with an Ogremon and we beat him, but we're really close to Digivolving now!"

Lopmon blinked. "I... didn't really get any of that."

Suzie grinned. "So you guys are like spies now!?"

Lopmon gaped at her. "So you understood that?"

Suzie frowned. "But, I still think I need to tell Henry and your parents. You're kids. You shouldn't be soldiers," she said, standing up. "I'm sorry, but I have to."

May reached out and grabbed Suzie's wrist. "No! I – Aunt Suzie, please. If we don't reach Ultimate, we can't go to the Digital World. We can't save Taj's parents!"

Suzie stared at her niece, her brain trying to put together what she'd said. Finally, she managed to get the words out. "You... what?"

May opened her mouth to respond, then took a deep breath and sat down. "I've checked it myself. Our Digivices, they have this function called 'Key.' If three Digidestined make it to Ultimate together, then the Key unlocks and we can go to the Digital World." She stared at the ground. "Aunt Suzie, Taj has been looking for his parents for twelve years. You can't just take his only chance at doing that away from him. I can't let him down like that, Aunt Suzie. _We_ can't."

"Why you three, though? You're kids!" Lopmon protested. "Surely they have other Tamers they could use to do this!"

"Tamers can't do it. Only Digidestined," Dorimon explained.

Suzie glanced over in confusion. "But... there's a difference?" she wondered. "Back in our day, there were only Tamers, so what changed?"

"Tamers are made by the government," May explained. "I don't know how. Digidestined like us are chosen by something or someone else. I don't know how that happens either."

"Sounds a little different than the Digignomes," Lopmon pointed out.

Dorimon rolled onto her side. "The what?"

Suzie nodded to herself. "Okay. I'll think about it," she told her niece. She looked over at Lopmon. "Can you keep an eye on Dorimon until we get back? I'll bring you leftovers!"

Lopmon nodded. "Of course. Should I let her go, or..?"

Suzie nodded. "Let her stretch her legs. It isn't nice to keep such a wittwe cutie stuck wike this!" she said, dropping down and petting the tiny Digimon. "So _adowabwe!_ "

Dorimon looked at Lopmon. "Is this... good?"

"It's Suzie," Lopmon replied, unsure of whether it was good or bad. "That's good enough for me."

 **X X X**

May had been acting a little weird all dinner. Her parents didn't seem to notice – I guess dealing with four kids under ten at a restaurant meant they weren't going to focus too much on the oldest one. She kept glancing at Suzie and Henry, getting freaked out the entire time we waited for our food to come and pushing her food around instead of actually eating any when it finally did. The moment we got back to her house, she dragged me up to her room and slammed the door shut. "Oh, May, you're back!" I froze and stared in surprise. Sitting on May's bed, playing a game of Yahtzee with Dorimon, was a Digimon.

I jumped forward and grabbed the rabbit-dog. "You're a Lopmon! And you know Suzie?" I turned and glared at May. "Did you get a second Digimon partner!?"

"What!? No, you idiot!" May hissed. She rolled her eyes. "Taj, Lopmon over there isn't my partner. She's _Aunt Suzie's!_ "

I turned slowly towards the Digimon. "Suze is a Digidestined?" I asked, torn between freaking out in terror or excitement.

"Well, almost. She's my Tamer," Lopmon explained. "We chose to be partners, unlike how your Digimon are born for you. In fact, I'd say you're less like Suzie or Tasuke's mother and almost more like..." She stared up at me and tapped my goggles.

I dropped Lopmon and stumbled backwards. "W-what? I... what?" I shook my head and fell into the chair. "She – My father? Different?"

"Did you say Taj's mom was a Digi- er, a Tamer?" May asked after a moment of thinking about what Lopmon had said. She turned to me. "We were right, she has a partner. She has to be safe in the Digital World, then!"

Lopmon smiled softly. "You didn't know that?" she asked. The rabbit nodded. "Well, I'm glad I could put your mind at ease a little. Her partner would never let either of them get hurt."

"Who was her partner?" May asked while I just sat there, dazed.

"Renamon. She was..." Lopmon trailed off and chuckled. "Very serious, just like Rika. From what I hear, they both had a lot to learn about friendship after they tried to kill your father and his partner. But she was loyal. Once they were all friends, she was always there for them. Especially once Rika and Takato grew close later on."

I smiled. Renamon. Just like the Digimon I chose back when this whole thing started. I must have remembered a little, and that was why I chose her. She was... family. And then my mood darkened. I needed to make sure that they – that Lopmon and Suzie – didn't tell Henry. "Before we talk more about this, how was my father different?" I asked. I stood up and crossed my arms. "How was he more like us than like my mother?"

Lopmon opened her mouth and took a deep breath. "Well, I suppose in the interest of trust, I can explain," she stated. She jumped from the bed and burrowed under, rustling around for a while. Finally, a box pushed out and she appeared beside it, pulling out Digimon cards. "Your father was a... fanatic, when it came to Digimon. He loved it. He had goggles from the show, as many cards as he could find, toys, games, every episode of the show committed to memory."

"Like someone else I know," May mocked, shoving me with her shoulder.

"I'm not that bad," I muttered defensively. I turned back to Lopmon. "He drew his own Digimon. That's what Henry said..." I trailed off and jolted towards May. "He knows. Or at least he suspects! This is bad!"

"Wait, what do you mean, Dummy?" Dorimon asked, finally piping up.

I shook my head and turned to Lopmon. "He mentioned Guilmon as one of my dad's drawings, and my partner, my Digimon, is Black _Guilmon_. So he knows I have BlackGuilmon, doesn't he?" I asked. Lopmon didn't respond, so I jolted forward and lifted her up. I hissed angrily at her, filled with rage that she wouldn't just explain, that she was threatening my one chance at saving my parents. "Doesn't he!?"

"Taj!" May admonished, tearing the terrified Digimon from my hands. "What the hell!?"

I swallowed and took a step back. "I – I'm sorry, Lopmon. But this is the only way to get to my parents." I sat down. "I shouldn't have done that. You aren't – I mean, you aren't doing anything wrong. But I can't have him shut us down, Lopmon. I _need_ to do this."

"You have missed your parents for a long time," Lopmon finally said, though she was hiding away from me behind May. "Most of your life. It can't be easy. But please... don't do that."

I shrunk into the chair, feeling guilty. "I'm so sorry," I said sadly.

Lopmon took a deep breath, then jumped off the bed and over to my lap. She tapped my cheek with one hand. "Momentai, it will be okay," she told me, and I chuckled. She looked over at May. "Takato drew Guilmon, that's true. He created a Digimon from his hopes and dreams, like he was chosen to be a Tamer by something other than the Digignomes or Guilmon."

"Digignomes?" Dorimon asked. She grinned. "That sounds yummy!"

"They grant wishes about Digimon. They created the Digivices Suzie and your parents have. I wouldn't try eating them," Lopmon explained. "You young Digimon and your stomachs..."

"So they're smart like Digimon? Yeah, I guess Loading them would be bad," Dorimon said sadly, laying on the bed again. "Dang it..."

"So you think whatever it is chose my dad also chose us?" I wondered aloud.

Lopmon shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is, your father and Guilmon appeared right when they were needed to unite the Tamers. If they didn't, the Digital World and this one would have been annihilated," she explained, a shiver running over her as the memories washed over her. "Maybe that's the same for you and the other Digidestined."

I turned and gawked at May. "How much did you tell them!?"

"Everything. They threatened to tell Henry if I didn't," May explained anxiously, rubbing her left arm. "For now, Suzie promised she'd think about not telling him anything."

"So that's it? We just have to hope she won't tell him anything?" I asked. I took a shaky breath and brought my hands up to shield my face, running them down and stretching my eyelids to try and drain some of my stress. "Lopmon... please. Please tell Suzie she can't tell Henry anything. You said we're Digidestined for a reason, maybe. I don't care about that. I just need my parents again, and Henry would stop me from doing this. Please."

Lopmon stared at me, then at May and Dorimon. "I will try, Tasuke," she replied after a moment. "But remember that Henry promised your parents he would protect you above all else, even them. He would have good reason for keeping you out of all this danger. Especially if your partner is as violent as he worries."

May caught my eyes and raised her eyebrows. "He's just coarse," I retorted defensively.

" Jerkmon isn't as bad as he pretends to be," Dorimon admitted to my surprise. "And he'd never let anyone hurt Dummy."

Lopmon nodded. "Then there's a chance. No more or less," she explained. "And that's the most I can promise, Deva's honor."

I blanched. "Wait, you're one of the Devas! No, wait: the Devas are _real?_ Wait, what else from the shows and cards is real?!"

May sighed. "Great. You got him started, Lopmon."

Lopmon sighed nervously. "He certainly reminds me of someone..."

 **X X X**

Chiros and Koromon sat in silence, eating the burgers from the drive through in their hotel room. Chiros was sitting over his computer, scanning through the information on the building he'd been able to find with a slightly in depth internet search. A few good links and he had phone numbers, names, birth dates, relatives, nation of birth, and even the grades of the boy who lived in the house. The things that got put on the internet without anyone thinking about it, or even without them knowing at all, was mind boggling. "The house belongs to Henry Wong, a successful researcher into A.I. and a lecturer at DU. He is the son of Janyu Wong, the Monster Maker. Interesting and something to pass along when we get back. He is also the brother of voice actress Suzie Wong, data scientist Jaarin Anderson, and Physicist Rinchei Wong. A family of overachievers, it seems. He is the legal guardian of Tasuke Joryawa, and moved to America with him twelve years ago from Japan. He is the uncle of a large group of children by Jaarin and a nephew by Rinchei," he began reading through the list he had compiled from the information he had found.

Koromon looked up from the eight burgers he was eating. "So, who was at the house when we drove past it?" Koromon wondered. Chiros stifled a snort when cheese dripped off the Digimon's face. "That should tell us who the Digidestined is."

"Looks like the cars there were registered to Mr. Wong, his ward, his niece, and one to a high end car rental company," Chiros explained. "Which means I can't easily find out who it was that was there with him."

"Doesn't matter. Given everything we know about Digidestined and the Monster Makers, it's obvious who the first suspect should be," Koromon cut in. He hopped over to his partner and stared at the paper. "We can eliminate Henry. He's outside the standard age range. The guest, we can't guess about. It's either someone he works with, or one of his siblings, in which case they are also likely outside the age range. Tasuke is a possibility, but it's the girl that I think makes the most sense. Sixteen, the grandchild of a Monster Maker, and present when I smelled the Digimon. I'd bet she's the Digidestined we're looking for." Koromon looked back up at his partner, a sad frown covering his entire face. "Which means it's a child."

Deciding not to argue the semantics of a child versus a teenager, Chiros nodded. "It's not ideal," he agreed. The agent sighed and circled the girl's name on the paper. "When we get confirmation she's the Digidestined, I'll send the information on them both to the higher ups. Even if we fail, our home will gain valuable information to trade."

"And if we die, we go out the only way we can," Koromon said. "Fighting like heroes of old."

"I doubt it will come to that, Koromon." He stared down at Mayumi Anderson's name and a pang of sadness ran through him; the job required terrible things for the good of his people. "I doubt they've reached our level just yet."

"Then what's the plan?" Koromon wondered.

Chiros was quiet for a moment, thumbs on his lips. "For now, we observe and follow. We will attack when we find an opening or, worse, if we are made."

"Made what?" Koromon wondered.

"No, it – If she realizes we are agents," he clarified with a chuckle.

Koromon blinked. "Ohhhh..."

 **X X X**

 _Wow, Henry never told Tasuke or May about me? Come on, Henry, where's the love for Terriermon, huh? I don't care if it's 'dangerous,' you gotta momentai, buddy!_

 _Oh, right! Terriermon here. The best and last 'Next Time Narrator' you'll ever need! Sorry, but Rika was a little busy this week, what with Takato finally snapping out of his funk. Now that they've both seen this, it's gotten a little_ ** _awkward_** _at the park... Especially since she knows I told everyone about the dream our little Takatomon had about her! Ha! Priceless._

 _Anyways, I hope this Chiros guy doesn't hurt May. I can't imagine what Henry would do if something like that happened. But I think Suzie would get to him first... Ugh, I'm having flashbacks to the torture of 'Pwincess Pwetty Pants.' I wouldn't wish that on anybody, you hear? But I also gotta wonder, is Suzie going to tell Henry? And if she does, does it even matter?_

 _What, you think two sixteen year olds are going to listen when they're told not to be Digidestined spies? I wouldn't listen! But Henry says I_ ** _usually_** _don't listen, so..._

 _Well, I guess we'll have to find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


	14. Dorugamon's Fight: Not the Smallest!

**AN: Hey everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone from America. Hope you have a good time with the people you love. Anyways, hope you're having a good November. It's been a while, but I've been kind of busy.**

 **Now, responses.**

 **To G3r1k: We'll see about that rabbit, bag, and whether it has yet escaped said bag. And Renamon is great. Watching her and Rika actually begin to be friends over the course of the show is great.**

 **To Smartalec121: Now that you mention it, I can definitely see how she seems like Mimi. But like you said it's fun, and I hope different enough from how people usually portray her to be unique. As for your assessment of Takato, I agree. He's definitely a Tamer in that he chose and wished to create Guilmon, but I always felt like there was more to it than the others, in a way. The dream about Rika, for one, and that Guilmon's creation is so unique. Fifty fifty, I guess, and definitely more like the Digidestined than the other Tamers were. Except maybe Henry, given the old Digidestined were chosen after having an interaction with Digimon, and being the son of someone who created the Digimon kind of falls under that category as well.**

 **Well, enjoy and I'll see you guys next time!**

 _ **Episode 14: Dorugamon's Fight: Not the Smallest!**_

May and I sat with our Digimon in the warehouse, having just explained everything that had happened with Suze to my incredibly grumpy Digimon partner. "So," he said as we finished, eyes staring past us, "you are telling me there is a delicious rabbit sized Digimon around that I haven't promised to not Load?"

"That can't be what he's getting from all this," Dorimon said, casting a concerned glance at me and May.

"Knowing him, I'm surprised he heard anything about Lopmon other than the words 'rookie' and 'Digimon,'" May replied, and they both began to laugh at my partner.

He snorted angrily, and twin trails of smoke rose from his nostrils. "And I am surprised you were able to understand even that much, you stupid weakling!" He snarled at her, teeth bared and more smoke rising. I think if she could have made smoke come out of her nose and mouth, she would have. Taking on the most condescending voice I'd heard in a long time, he continued, "Digimon attract Digimon, so obviously if she's around I'll have more prey to Load, and stronger to become."

"Okay, maybe we stop this conversation before you two kill each other?" Dorimon asked, glancing up from a bag of licorice May had given her. "May, I love making fun of Jerkmon, but not if you're going to let him get to you, too." She turned and grinned evilly at BlackGuilmon. "He's not worth it." He snapped his jaws at her, infuriated by the insinuation he wasn't worth something. Even if he didn't really know what that something was.

May took a deep breath. "Thanks, Dorimon," she said, reaching over and scratching the fuzzball appreciatively behind the ears.

"May, stop making me be the responsible one," Dorimon demanded after the scratches stopped. "It ruins our whole thing! I'm crazy and irresponsible, and you keep me from being crazy and irresponsible!"

"Truly, America's next Buddy Cop movie," I remarked. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "But we do have other things to focus on, you know. Like what are we going to do about Davis?"

"We tell him nothing," BlackGuilmon was quick to reply. "He would interfere, as surely as your families would."

"I hate to agree with Jerkmon," Dorimon began, jumping off of the couch to stand on top of BlackGuilmon's back, "but it would hurt Suzie. The government would probably want to get Lopmon and her old, weird Digivice."

"Davis is a company man," May agreed. "He may be our friend now, but..."

"He's an agent first," Dorimon finished. BlackGuilmon growled and shook his back. Dorimon yelped and tumbled to the ground, where she began to struggle like a tipped over tortoise. "Ach! May, I'm turtling!"

"It wouldn't even be fun to Load you like this," BlackGuilmon remarked after a moment of glaring down at her. He scoffed and turned away to find us staring at him. "What?"

May laughed in fake surprise. "Mocking instead of a threat? He _can_ learn!"

"And we're back," I grumbled before reaching down to flip Dorimon back to her feet.

She rolled her eyes and looked up to me apologetically. "And I say you're the Dummy."

"Hey!" May and BlackGuilmon snapped at us before tossing one another a glare.

"Okay, so we don't tell Davis. He'll find out eventually, though," I pointed out. BlackGuilmon kept glaring at her, but May turned to me. "What do we do then?"

"Well, if it comes to that..." May trailed off and set her gaze against mine, brow furrowed. "I won't let them have her."

I studied her for a second before leaning back. "I... I wouldn't trade Suze for my parents," I told her. I shook my head. "You know that, May. I wouldn't trade any of my family. Not even to save them."

"Then you'll go down in a blaze of glory with us!" Dorimon shouted excitedly. "The three of us versus the world!"

BlackGuilmon turned his snout towards her. "Ahem..."

"Wha? Do I _have_ to count you, too?" she asked, grumbling.

I looked at him in surprise. "You'd... help?"

"Of course," he said, turning towards me with a stoic, supportive look on his face. It quickly morphed into a predatory grin that gave me the creeps. "And that would mean I could remove Huckmon from the 'No-Load List.'"

"Always looking on the bright side," Dorimon muttered, letting loose a heavy sigh.

"Of course," BlackGuilmon replied, not hearing her sarcasm at all. "I always think about Loading."

"You have a _list?_ " May asked dryly.

"Yeah, I made him make it," I explained, rubbing my forehead. "Unfortunately, let's call it an improvement."

 **X. X. X**

May wasn't exactly feeling calm. It was Friday, which meant she'd be able to keep a closer eye on her aunt, and she wasn't sure if that made her feel better or worse. Sure, she could keep an eye on Suzie and she still had no idea if her aunt was going to spill the secrets to Henry and her parents, but it felt like Suzie was beginning to find it funny, smirking at May and moving towards Henry or her parents before veering in the other direction. It was way too stressful constantly wondering if it was all going to come crashing down. So, she was the closest she'd gotten to relieved in days when Suzie had asked her to drive her to the mall. It had been more than she'd been prepared for, especially when marched into the Disney Store and loudly proclaimed she was a princess.

"I am so tired," May muttered when she finally stumbled into her car at six thirty, the sun starting to dip below the horizon. They were parked far off, with only a few cars nearby, that way Dorimon could run around the car without being seen, barking at people through the cracked windows and making funny faces at kids, then looking like a dog when their parents looked on the rare moments when families walked by. Good fun for her.

"Food!" the Digimon shouted when the doors shut.

"Ugh..." May groaned as she held out the bag full of burger and fries for her Digimon to tear through. She looked over at her perfectly happy aunt. "Did you have to sign autographs for _three_ _ **hours**_?!"

"My adoring public demands it," Suzie supplied happily. "It's a curse I will happily bear."

"I'm so excited to go home," May grumbled, letting her forehead fall to the wheel. She took another deep breath, then put the car in reverse and pulled backwards from her spot. She drove in silence for a while, ignoring the banter her aunt, Lopmon, and Dorimon had going on as she checked her mirrors to change lanes. She frowned. _Is that..?_ She got into the lane and sped past the car that had been in front of her, changing lanes to get back into the one she'd been in earlier. Lo and behold, the car she'd been eyeing followed her closely.

"Are you okay?" Suzie finally asked.

"Shush," May dismissed, getting over again.

Suzie watched her turn and checked her phone. "Uh... the house isn't that way."

"Shush!" May hissed again, keeping an eye on the other car as she drove towards her destination. "Dorimon, be ready to go."

Dorimon looked over from where she'd been eating, keeping herself between Lopmon and her food. The rabbit reached around and stole a fry as Dorimon nodded. "We're being followed," May stated.

Suzie's eyes widened. "We're what?"

May pulled into a spot at the park where BlackGuilmon had once taken up residence and parked the car. "Stay here," she said as she reached past Suzie and into the glove compartment, pulling out –

"Are those night vision goggles!?" Lopmon shouted in surprise.

"Just stay here!" May ordered. She turned off the car and shoved the door open, putting on the goggles as she and Dorimon sprinted away. Dorimon leaped into the air as the Digivice in May's hand began to glow, creating a Digital egg around the tiny Digimon. A moment later, she burst forth as Dorumon and the two sprinted into the treeline.

"What is going on?" May asked after a moment in the dark of the car. She moved to get out and follow, only for Lopmon to stop her.

"Look, Suzie!" the Digimon hissed, pointing out of the car at another car. Someone had jumped out of it, running with a small, orange dinosaur rushing after him. She looked up at her partner. "What should we do?"

"We trust her, for now," she said after a moment's thought. Suzie pulled up her D-Power and stared at the screen. "But... we can still keep an eye on them, right?"

Lopmon grinned up at her. "It's been too long!" she shouted, excited at the prospect of what came next.

 **X X X**

May hurried as quickly as she dared through the trap laden trees and rocks, hoping she wouldn't accidentally trip one of her own traps. Still, she had to lead him through the most dense area of traps. "Oh, crap!" she hissed, earning a confused look from her Digimon. "We should have called Taj!"

"... You look silly in those goggles," Dorumon stated, eyes reflective in the darkness.

May sighed and yanked a tripwire, creating the sound of running on a series of speakers to her right and – somehow – stored Digimon sweat. A false trail to lead the person chasing them away and into more painful traps while she and Dorumon got ready in the clearing for a real fight. Hopefully it could do enough damage to make a difference when they caught up. She slid to a stop with Dorumon beside her, curving behind a large rock. The pair glanced around the corner. "See anything?" Dorumon asked her partner.

May frowned and stared into the Darkness, seeing a pair of figures stop and glance in the direction of the trap. One was much taller than the other, and the shorter one was... definitely a Digimon. Dinosaur shaped. They talked to one another for a moment, the Digimon sniffing both trails. After a moment, the Digimon pointed in their direction. "Crap!" May hissed, sprinting off towards the nearest clearing. Dorumon gasped and charged after her.

"Agumon, Digivolve to..."

"Ah, crap," May grumbled as they neared the treeline.

A cyborg centaur with a flaming tail shot past them, sliding to a stop with his human partner on his back. "Centarumon!" The robotic voice came, deep and proud. It had golden fur, with large ovals of purple armor appearing all over its body at protected intervals. Its right arm was a metallic blaster, its left hand a gleaming, robotic claw with a chain and shackle attached. On its back were a pair of ducts, releasing some kind of gas and whining like engines in cool down. Its glowing, red eyes peeked out from its silvery, spartan-like metal helmet.

Dorumon jumped in front of May, eyes dilated as she got low and growled at the newcomer Digimon. "That was a nice try, Mayumi," the person on the back said as he dismounted, a Mediterranean accent tinting his words. "I'm afraid you'll have to come with me and Centarumon. We would rather not hurt either you or your Digimon, Digidestined."

Dorumon's growl intensified. "Who are you?" May asked distrustfully, keeping away from her Digivice so they wouldn't attack.

"Adrian Chiros, Mayumi. I am from Greece, and have been sent to collect you," the man said. He gestured at her.

Centarumon spoke up, then. "We would prefer to not exercise force against a child, but duty comes before what we want," he explained calmly. The weapon on his right arm sparkled with dangerous energy.

May glanced down. "You seem a lot nicer than the last person to come after me," she said. "But even if going with you was a real option, this is my home. I'm not leaving. She looked up. "So I'm going to give _you_ a chance to leave."

The man sighed and pulled out his Digivice. "Then I guess this is how it has to be," he observed sadly.

Centarumon moved its feet to a fighting position. "Ready yourselves, Children. We will endeavor not to do lasting harm to either of you."

May reached into her pocket and pulled out her Digivice, taking note of what it said. "Centarumon, a Champion Animal Digimon of the Data type. It uses its blazing speed to amplify the power of its Jet Kick attack. If all else fails, it will use its Solar Ray attack as a last resort. No matter the Digimon, it will hit and it will make them go down. A Partner Digimon." So, had to deal with the speed and the type disadvantage. After a moment, her goggles began to glitch out. A Digital Field. She tore them off and put on her sunglasses, appreciating that the cloud of Digital smoke was casting enough of a glow for her to see.

"Sorry, but we can't make that promise back," Dorumon snarled angrily.

"Digi-modify! Hyperspeed activate!" May shouted, tapping the card on the screen. Dorumon glowed violet for a moment, then bolted to the side, leaving a bright after image as she circled the agent and Centarumon. "BlackAgumon activate!" Dorumon's eyes glowed, viral energy filling her body.

May turned on the agent and clenched her fists. In response, Chiros took out a gun, aiming it at her. "I'm not beating a child with my fists. Our Digimon will decide this battle."

"Yeah, keep it fair with the Champion versus Rookie fight," May growled. She bit her cheek. "But you won't stop me from Digi-Modifying her?"

Chiros shook his head. "No. You deserve that much," he said simply before holstering the gun. The two glared at one another for a moment, then turned back to the Digimon fighting nearby, and May knew that she was going to need that handicap that guy was giving her. Dorumon may have more speed than before and extra oomph from the BlackAgumon card turning her Viral, but it wasn't enough to keep up with Centarumon or keep the Champion's barrage of Jet Kicks from dealing damage to her.

Dorumon growled as another Jet Kick sent her flying backwards, skidding across the dirt. "Metal Shoot!" she snapped, firing off a series of small metal blasts at Centarumon. He raised his claw and batted them away, then charged at Dorumon again. His claw swiped at her head and she ducked, dodging beneath it. Then he shot forward with another Jet Kick, front knees slamming into Dorumon. She shouted in pain and took a half step back, at which point his claw came out and wrapped around her throat. He spun and slammed her into the ground, sending rock and dirt spraying upward.

"Dorumon!" May shouted, taking a half step forward before looking down at her Digivice. She had to have some kind of card stored that could help with this. She used an Energy card, only for Centarumon's continued assault to reverse that healing. A Wargreymon shield wouldn't help – it was a one sided, stationary shield. A Digimon like Centarumon wouldn't have any trouble against that. Ach! If only they'd stuck in the treeline. It wasn't dense, but a runner like Centarumon wouldn't be able to get up speed quite like this.

"I'm sorry, Child," Centarumon said solemnly after another Jet Kick had Dorumon's data fizzling.

"No..." May whispered, watching her friend get hurt. This is what she'd wanted to avoid! Fighting, being Digidestined, being agents! She didn't want Dorumon get hurt, she didn't want to fight. She hated fighting! She hated all of this!

Her brow furrowed angrily. But she wouldn't let it take her friend. She sprinted forward. "Wh-what the hell are you doing!?" Chiros shouted, too stunned at watching a sixteen year old girl charge a Digimon. She leaped up and slammed her shoulder into the centaur's flank... not budging him an inch.

"I won't let you hurt my friend!"

A bright, purple light exploded from her pocket and from Chiros' hand. He gasped and stared down at his Digivice. "N...no..." There was a cartoonish, grinning, purple dog on the screen, laughing at him.

"Dorumon Digivolve to..." A purple and white egg exploded into being around the rookie Digimon, though this one, May noted, was different. See through, almost. Dorumon's skin seemed to slide off of her, torn away from a purple wire frame. The figure and the egg exploded outward, growing to a size slightly larger than Centarumon. The wings on her back lengthened, growing into massive appendages capable of flight. Her tail grew longer as well, swirling into a dangerous weapon growing from her back. The claws on her larger arms and legs grew into dangerous talons, each the size of May's forearm. The skin began to flow back onto her like water, coating the wire frame with a much darker, almost black purple that was broken in zig zag stripes by the purple of Dorumon. Her wings were white on the bottoms, as well as a blade shaped tuft of fur on her tail, her hands, feet, and snout. There was a mane of white fur behind her sharp ears and the fur beneath them. The crystal on her forehead was a darker crimson now, matching the bloody claws. Then the egg shattered around her. "Dorugamon!"

The laughing dog on Chiros' Digivice vanished, replaced with text. "Dorugamon, a Data-Vaccine joint type Digimon that exibits the ferocity of a beast in battles, tempered by the intelligence of a dragon. Its Power Metal attack can destroy any Digimon unlucky enough to be hit by it, and those that dodge can count on being hit by a Cannonball or torn to shreds by its claws. A Partner Digimon."

"Get away from May!" Dorugamon screamed, her voice deeper but still recognizably Dorumon's. She flapped her wings and charged forward, claws grabbing hold of the stunned Centarumon's shoulders and dragging him into the air. May yelped as wind buffeted her and she brought her arm up to shield her face before glancing up at Dorugamon kicking and biting at Centarumon's hanging form.

"Digimondify! Togemon, activate!" the agent snapped.

"Needle Spray!" Centarumon snapped, and tiny darts shot out of his body. Dorugamon snarled in rage and dropped her prey, letting him plummet to the ground in a massive heap. The quadruped pushed himself up to his feet, growling. "I'll manage, Adrian."

"I know," Adrian muttered, though he looked anxious anyways. He glanced over at May, who was busy watching her newly Digivolved partner with open awe. "Energy, activate!" Centarumon glowed and his wounds vanished.

"Energy Ray!" Centarumon shouted as the glow vanished. He raised his gun hand and a quick beam of golden energy shot out, arcing towards his flying opponent.

Dorugamon raised her head and threw it forward a moment later, shouting, "Cannonball!" A metal sphere the size of May's head shot out of her mouth, crashing into the energy ray. The bolt and projectile exploded against one another, creating a cloud of smoke in the air that Dorugamon shot through a moment later, plunging towards Centarumon. "Cannonball!" Another shot flew at Centarumon, forcing the Cyborg to dodge to the side where another one was coming at him.

His left arm began to glow a bright red. "Heat Uppercut!" He jumped towards the attack, slamming his glowing claw into the attack and cleaving it in two. He brought his gun arm up again. "Energy Ray!" Another glowing beam shot from his arm. Dorugamon spun midair, the bolt flying between her flapping wings, and she slammed into Centarumon. He shouted in pain and slammed into a tree, shattering its trunk before slamming into the ground.

"Power Metal!" Dorugamon snapped from the air, the crystal on her head glowing brighter and brighter as energy accumulated in her body, and then she threw her head forward. A massive sphere shot from her mouth, flying like a bullet towards Centarumon's prone form. Still struggling to his feet, Centarumon couldn't do anything more than let the attack hit him. Dust and rock exploded upward, shattered trees raining bark to the ground before slowly revealing Centarumon on all four knees, his data glitching and his breathing pained.

"I told you to give up," May said, turning to the man as Dorugamon came up behind her, flapping her wings slowly as she approached the ground before landing with a huge thud. She grinned. "Just didn't expect it to go this well for us..."

Chiros glared at her for a moment, then turned and rushed over to his partner's side. "Centarumon! Are you all right?"

The Digimon glitched again and gasped in pain. "I... I'm fine..."

"This is my fault... I should have done whatever I needed to fight her. I should have -"

"No," Centarumon said. He turned his robotic gaze towards May and Dorugamon. "We fought with honor."

"But we could do more!" Chiros snapped at himself. He gasped and stared down at his Digivice as an orange light began to glow from its screen. "I believe in us! I believe in you!"

May glanced at her own Digivice and her eyes widened. It was orange, too. A plain orange screen. "Centarumon Digivolve to... Sagittarimon!" A black and red centaur charged out of an orange egg, wielding a huge bow. May brought her Digivice up. "Armor-Ultimate Digimon Sagittarimon, a wise sage and trainer of heroes that bears the crest of Hope and is the master of the bow. He uses his skill with the bow to cast a powerful, Chrome Digizoid arrow in its Judgement Arrow attack, but he's no slouch up close with his Meteor Gallop attack. A Partner Digimon."

"Meteor Gallop!" Sagittarimon shouted, body glowing with white energy before he shot towards Dorugamon. Dorugamon tried to respond, but the attack hit and she was sent flying back before she could even flap a wing. She flew into the air from the impact, soaring through the Digital Field to the edge before she could manage to catch herself with her wings. She began to gather energy for another attack. "Judgement Arrow!" His bow began to glow as he pulled an arrow from the quiver on his left hip, drawing it and letting it fly. It was barely feet from hitting Dorugamon, enough energy glowing in its tip to glitch her data.

"Bunny Blades!" The arrow vanished as a massive, human shaped brown rabbit flew into its path, a glowing ax replacing one of her hands and destroying the attack.

"Wow, we chose just the right time to join in, didn't we?" Suzie grinned from the Digimon's shoulder where she sat, holding onto her partner's ear for stability. She grinned and looked over her Gucci glasses. "Hey, Princess!"

"Antylamon, a – A Deva!?" Chiros looked over at his partner. "We should retreat for now. Try to come up with a plan later!"

"Agreed," Sagittarimon growled, dashing backwards and grabbing hold of his partner before the two vanished in a burst of speed.

"Follow him!" Suzie shouted, pointing.

"I think we have someone else to worry about, Suzie," Antylamon muttered. Her ax morphed back into a four fingered, brown paw before she slowly descended to the ground. She reached up and picked up May, placing her on the ground.

"Aunt Suzie!" May had never been so happy to see her aunt before, and charged forward to hug her tight. She sighed in relief and pulled in closer before freezing. "Wait, you -" She looked up at the giant rabbit, who cocked her head to the side. "Lopmon!?"

"Smells like her," Dorugamon explained as she landed.

"Hello, May," the giant rabbit said, closing her eyes and waving at the Digidestined girl. "I'm glad that we were able to keep you safe."

"You... can Digivolve to Ultimate?" she asked in awe, staring up at the Ultimate Digimon.

Antylamon nodded. "I met Suzie in this form," she explained. She scratched her chin. "I suppose we should deal with the incoming individuals, shouldn't we? Two Digimon, Tasuke, and another human..?"

"Davis..!" She glared at the ground. "Dammit, I forgot about the alarms! We trip any of the traps and the others are alerted!"

"I believe it is too late for us to get away. BlackGuilmon will likely have smelled me already," Antylamon explained to her partner.

"The nose of a Guilmon," Suzie muttered. She turned to May. "What do you want to do here?"

May went into thought, biting her thumb. "... Dedigivolve and we lie. If Davis doesn't know that you can hit Ultimate, maybe he won't turn you in. They want to keep us happy, after all, and he won't risk that over a rookie Digimon," She supplied hopefully.

Suzie and Antylamon nodded, and with a pink flash the large rabbit shrank down to Lopmon once more. The rabbit jumped onto her partner's shoulder as soon as the humans removed their glasses. "It's dark without the Digital Field," Suzie said, glancing around with squinting eyes. "I can barely see you!"

"Well, I can see you," May said, grinning as she pulled on her night vision goggles again. She looked over at Dorugamon, who had turned towards the distance. "That them?"

"That's them," Dorugamon confirmed.

 **X X X**

"May! May, are you okay!?" I shouted as I sprinted up, freezing as my flashlight hit Dorugamon.

"Ow, my eyes!" May screamed, tearing off –

"Oops. I didn't see the night vision goggles!" I shouted, moving the light away from her. I stammered for a moment, then turned to Dorugamon. "You Digivolved!"

"That annoying little dog Digivolved before me!?" BlackGuilmon screamed, pointing angrily with one claw at the large, furry dragon smirking down at him. "No! I don't believe it! You cheated!"

"It's not a race, BlackGuilmon." I looked over at Suze. "Why are you still here? Davis will get here any minute!"

Almost as if he was making sure to arrive with dramatic timing, a white, armored Digimon jumped out from above the trees, Davis sitting on his back. The white creature fell and landed softly nearby despite its mass and metallic armor. My Digivice lit up and scanned the creature, but I didn't need it. "BaoHuckmon, a Digimon that has evolved through strict training and combat, each victory and loss driving is aspirations to become a powerful defender. He gets in close to fight, carving his enemies with the Teen Blade attack on its red hot tail, or counterattacking with Burn Flame from afar."

"Nerd," May told me.

"And who's this?" Davis asked as he jumped off of his Digimon. He walked up to our aunt while BaoHuckmon rushed up to Dorugamon. The two began to prance around excitedly, happy to see she had Digivolved to a new large size. BlackGuilmon was snarling at the two, which only made them play more and louder. Davis cast the two a glance, trying to hide his smile, then returned his stern gaze to May and Suze.

"Suzie Wong. You must be a knight for my princess and prince!" she shouted, gesturing at May and me.

Lopmon sighed on her shoulder and shook her head. "She is May's aunt. And I am Lopmon. She is my Tamer," Lopmon explained simply. She held out her ear for Davis to shake.

He didn't.

"What are you doing here?" He turned to May. "What happened, Anderson?"

"I was out with my aunt when I spotted a tail. You told us to come here if that happened," she told us. She crossed her arms. "I told Suzie to stay put and ran out here."

"That's true, she did tell us to stay put," Suze confirmed with a grin. "I mean, we didn't of course. I wasn't going to let my niece do something like that alone!"

"Not that it mattered, of course. She had defeated her opponent upon helping Dorugamon Digivolve," Lopmon cut in, moving the conversation forward.

"Nice!" I shouted, holding my hand out to May for a high five.

"... Then where's the agent?" Davis interjected, voice even and guarded.

"He Digivolved again and nearly took Dorugamon down," May explained, her hand dropping from mine and glaring at the ground angrily. "But when he smelled you guys coming he bolted just to be safe. And with a Sagittarimon, there's no way we'll be able to catch up to them."

BaoHuckmon and Dorugamon stopped playing around and walked over, followed by a loudly grumbling and snarling BlackGuilmon. "Yeah, I couldn't catch up to that even if I Digivolved. At least not with the head start they have."

"And where were you during this time?" Davis asked Suze instead.

Suze sighed. "Well, there's not a lot that a Rookie could do against an Ultimate. We would have just gotten in the way," she explained with a shrug.

Davis scoffed in disbelief. And with good reason, I thought. If Lopmon used to be a Deva, that meant she was Antylamon. An Ultimate. I doubted she couldn't reach that form again. "You can't Digivolve? After how long you've had your Digimon?"

"We aren't fighters, you know," Lopmon explained. She wagged her finger at Davis. "Some Digimon aren't here to fight. We got too much of that in the Digital World, you know."

Davis scratched his chin for a moment, then finally decided that was good enough and let his hands fall to his hips to strike an authorative pose. "Hm... Well this is how this is going to give me your Digivice and come with-"

"No, this is how it's going to go down," Suze cut in, grinning evilly. She put her finger out and jabbed Davis in his chest. "You aren't going to tell _anyone_ about me. At all. And there's no way I'm giving you my Digivice. I don't work for you."

Davis glanced at May and me, and we quickly turned away. He wasn't going to get any support from us against family of all people. He snarled at us and turned back to Suze. "Ha... No. You don't have any lever -"

"Leverage? Other than telling Henry everything?" Lopmon asked, smirking as evilly as her partner. Davis immediately shut up, and the two of us palled. "If that happens, it won't go well for you. Henry has, from what we've heard, some kind of influence in your organization. He won't let these two do anything for you."

May and I traded a look. We'd assumed he had some influence, given he knew Gethen. But enough to keep us out of the organization? That was – But Davis, he hadn't retorted. He hadn't replied... Suze... Suze was right! Henry was important, maybe even more than two Digidestined? "... Fine," Davis finally replied. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath to clear out his anger. Then, opening his eyes, he continued, "If you don't tell Dr. Wong about this, I won't tell the Director about you." He turned to May. "I'll want all the info you have about this agent and their Digimon that you can give me. But we can deal with that tomorrow. Head home and heal up."

"Oh, no. I'm not De-Digivolving so I can go -" Dorugamon began, then a purple flash exploded around her and a tiny Dorimon appeared where she'd been standing. "- home and – What? Oh, dang it!"

"Yes!" BlackGuilmon shouted at the same time, ecstatic he was no longer the one in the lowest stage at that moment. He shoved Dorimon with his leg and laughed as she turtled as she always did, screaming to May about it.

"Well, a Digimon can only De-Digivolve if both they and their partner want it to happen, so I think she's protesting a bit much," BaoHuckmon told us over Dorimon's screams of rage.

"So you _want_ to be that little runt?" BlackGuilmon asked her in disgust before he began laughing at her.

"At least I _can_ Digivolve!" Dorimon retorted, and the laughing stopped.

"What was that?" he growled back.

"KayKay, we should get going before this gets worse," May said, marching over and shoving BlackGuilmon, ignoring his very human string of expletives. "Out of the way, Troll." She picked up her partner and scratched her back. "Let's get going."

"Your Digimon seems good," Suze said as she gave my shoulder a pat. I looked over, hoping she was joking. She wasn't. "Rude, but I like your dragon's fire!"

 **X X X**

Jen followed Cadetmon's directions cautiously through the streets of Denver. She'd been lucky to get a job as a substitute teacher using her false records, which meant she and her partner could sniff out their target during the day, and she got to head out to a few different schools already. They hadn't managed to find any Digimon yet, but Jen could feel it in her bones that they were on the right track. And when Cadetmon had caught scent of a Digimon while they were driving, she felt like this was her chance. "Where to now?" she asked at the stop sign. She scanned the cars in front of her, trying to keep an eye on which ones had been around at the last few lights so she could get more space. She'd narrowed it down to three cars.

The cars began moving and her partner pointed after one of them. "Right." _The pickup truck, then_ , Jen noted. She turned right and slowed down to put space between them. Maybe then the other Digimon wouldn't be able to smell Cadetmon following them.

"Do you think this is that Digidestined?" Cadetmon wondered as they continued tailing the truck.

Jen shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. She clenched her fists on the wheel. "I guess that means we fight, then."

"And if it's not?" Cadetmon asked carefully.

Jen shrugged again. "I don't know."

Cadetmon rolled his eyes. "Winging it?"

"You now me so well," she said, smirking at her partner.

The truck pulled into a motel parking lot, and Jen turned the other direction, going across the street and pulling out surveillance material. "Let's see what this person's up to," she said as she hooked it up to the car's radio so they could hear.

" - tunate that we were able to escape. Between the Digidestined and her handlers, I doubt that we could have stood up to them even if I was Sagittarimon," one voice said. It was the Digimon, they assumed. "Her Dorugamon was powerful, as was the Antylamon."

"Well, then there must be another Digidestined. Dorugamon isn't a Hazard Digimon, even if it is one of the most dangerous Digimon I can think of," Cadetmon observed.

Jen chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, we've both seen X-Evolution," she said dismissively. "And Antylamon isn't a Hazard, either. But how they got their hands on a Deva..? I thought they all got killed twenty years ago."

"Apparently not all of them," Cadetmon said. He tapped the side of his head. "That's big news..."

The other voice replied to their Digimon. "I agree... Retreating wouldn't have been my first choice, but it was necessary," the man said. He sighed, then. "I guess that is the price for an honorable battle."

The voices turned to Greek and Jen sighed at the device. "Well, we're lucky they decided to speak in English at all," Cadetmon pointed out as more useless Greek and English cut in. "And now we know the brand of socks he wears..."

Jen turned and unplugged the device. "I... have an idea."

"A good one?" Cadetmon wondered skeptically.

Jen glanced to the right, then back ahead. "Maybe?" she supplied. She gestured at the motel. "We, uh... How do you feel about backup?"

Cadetmon stared at her blankly. "This is a foreign agent who fights children."

"Are we much better?" Jen countered.

Cadetmon sighed. "Okay. Fine." He stared over at the building. "I hope this works out for us..."

"Oh, come on, of course it will!" Jen exclaimed. She shut off the car and picked her partner up so she could carry him like a toy. "And if there are really three other people with Digimon, we'll need all the help we can get."

"And what are you going to tell them?" Cadetmon wondered, trying to make sure she had a plan.

Jen smiled. "You heard him. He's got some kind of honor or hero complex. We tell him that we have to destroy a Digimon or Gethen will take over the world, and he'll help us out of his own free will."

"The truth isn't exactly what I was hoping you'd be telling him," Cadetmon muttered dryly.

"Relax. What's the worst that could happen?"

"We die. I can't Digivolve to Ultimate, remember?"

"We'll be fine!"

Jen knocked on the motel door they had seen the agent enter. "Hello? We, uh, we were hoping we could talk with you? About Digimon?"

The other side of the door was silent for a moment, then it slid opened inward. "Come in slowly, and no funny business. Or I'll shoot." There was the characteristic 'click' of a gun being readied and Jen traded a nervous glance with Cadetmon before doing as she was told. She walked into the main area of the motel and looked around for the man, then turned in surprise as the doo slid closed and he came out from behind it, a Koromon bouncing beside him. "Who are you?"

Jen motioned with Cadetmon at the bed and the man nodded. She placed her partner down and sighed. "We're _former_ agents of D-CARD, and we need your help."

The man's aim didn't falter. "You wish to defect. I am not here on official EU business, so I doubt that would -"

"Defect? Ha! No, we don't want to defect," Jen laughed, shaking her hand at him. She shook her head. "Defect? You hear that Cadetmon?"

The gun clicked again. "What she means, is there is something more important," Cadetmon cut in before things could devolve. "The leader of D-CARD has made a deal with something terrible. Koromon, what do you know of Reapmon?"

The pink ball's eyes widened. "He made a deal with Reapmon? That's an actually _evil_ Digimon, though!" he whispered hoarsely. He turned to his partner and began to speak in Greek, having a quiet conversation with the man. After a moment, the man sighed and holstered his weapon.

"Speak," he commanded.

Jen nodded. "Well, from what we know, a Hazard Digimon showed up here about a month ago. We were sent to pick something up from the Firewall, and brought it in," she explained. She shook her head. "And that's when Cadetmon overheard them."

"The Director was speaking with Reapmon about taking over the world," Cadetmon finished. "Both of them."

Koromon looked up at his partner. "With a Hazard, it's certainly possible."

"So there are two Digidestined here," Chiros said, placing a hand on his chin.

"Which means D-CARD has three," Koromon added. "Including the boy who has already reached Ultimate."

"And I doubt you want Reapmon and his allies crossing over," Cadetmon said gravely.

"... We can't head back, yet," Koromon mumbled nervously.

Chiros sighed before he and Koromon turned to Jen and Cadetmon. "Okay. What do we do?"

 **X X X**

 _Well, of course May and Dorimon Digivolved first. I mean, Henry and me did, too. It must run in his family to have great, fun partners who are better than everyone else. Unlike Takato and Rika. Don't get me wrong, Guilmon and Renamon are great! But one's... well, Guilmon thinks with his stomach first, you know? And Renamon couldn't Momentai if her life depended on it! I guess Lopmon is pretty good, but she looks like me so that was a given. Not as good, but not bad._

 _I wonder if this team up between Jen and Adrian will end up being a problem. I mean,we didn't really have fights between Tamers back when I was leading everybody around. Not other than that first couple times we met Rika, but that barely counts. And we almost never had to fight someone a second time! I mean usually cause we killed them, but... Momentai, okay?_

 _Look, just... Henry, you're doing this on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters, okay!? I'm going to hang out with Guilmon and Calumon!_


	15. Coming Together:Becoming Friends!

**AN: Hey everyone, and Merry Christmas! Also Happy second night of Hannukah, if that's your thing! I hope you're all doing well for this, probably the last chapter of 2019, and are ready for a great New Year.**

 **Now, responses:**

 **To smartalec121: Yeah, BG is always a blast to write. There's something about a no filter grump that just makes you laugh, right? As for the bit about Henry and Suzie, it wasn't exactly a reason to keep Henry out of the fold. It's more that... well, you'll see. But the gist is that the important part isn't that Henry knows or doesn't, it's that he and Tasuke trust each other enough to tell each other the truth. But of course Suzie outmaneuvered Davis! She comes from pretty intelligent family, so she's bound to be smart herself, even if she isn't in the same STEM fields as her family.**

 **To DragonEmperor999: Thanks! I hope that the rest can live up to your expectations!**

 **Well, enjoy, and I'll see you next year!**

 _ **Episode 15: Coming Together: Becoming Friends!**_

It was more than a relief when Suze was finally leaving. First time I ever said that about her, but it was true. We'd spent days worrying she was going to reveal our Digimon and our lies to Henry or to May's parents, and now... well, phones were a thing, so that worry wasn't _gone_ , but if she wasn't going to do it now, she probably never would. Still, we were going to miss her. She was in Henry's, packing up her things while Henry and the other Andersons waited outside helping pack her twelve dozen other bags. Or maybe it was only eleven dozen? It was a lot!

She sighed and sat down on her bed next to Lopmon and waited for May and me to sit on her overstuffed bag to try and zip it shut, as we had for every bag before this. We glared at one another, and jumped on the bag, with me grabbing the zipper and pulling it forward until May could grab it and zip it the other half of the way shut. "Thanks, Prince and Princess," Suze said when we leaped off of the bed. She came up and hugged us tight, only pushing us to arm's length after we had begun to struggle out of her grasp. "Oh, I kind of don't want to go, but I have to!"

May and I smiled back at her. "That's... uh... too bad," May supplied half-heartedly.

I chuckled. "Yep. Too, uh, bad?"

She glanced between us and sighed. "They don't get it, do they, Lopmon?"

"No, I suppose not," the Digimon agreed, shaking her head.

Suze tapped each of us on the top of the head, scolding us. "You don't trust me? You hurt this Queen's honor!" She pointed at the both of us. "You really thought I was planning on telling Henry any of this?"

"Well, not after the deal you made with Davis," I explained, May nodding along beside me.

Suze rolled her eyes. "Not ever!" she protested. She rubbed her forehead and walked over to Lopmon, picking her up and placing the Digimon on her shoulder. "Henry and I have a very different view of everything that happened when we were children. He was already a pacifist, almost to a fault. And he's more like our parents than I am."

"What's being like Grandpa got to do with this?" May asked interest showing in her smile.

"Let's just say that he did the same thing with us when we were even younger than you," Suze explained. She smiled at the both of us. "Henry... means well. Your parents' disappearance, and the second disappearance of the Digimon hurt Henry, and he doesn't want that to happen to you. But he's forgetting all the fun with that fear."

"He wouldn't trade a moment of his time with Terriermon to get rid of that pain, so why should you?" Lopmon explained. "And if you help someone along the way..." She turned to look at me. "Or find what you're looking for, all the better, right?"

"We're better people because we were Tamers," Suze stated, so sure that she was right. "And I'm not going to deny that to you."

 _"And,"_ she continued, cutting off our excitement. She popped us on the heads again. "It's your secret to tell him, not mine. If you tell him, and you show Henry you trust him, he'll do the same for you. It'd be a little hypocritical for him to know your secrets when he won't tell you anything!" She turned to me. "Besides, you're a... bad liar. The only reason he hasn't caught you yet is because he doesn't _want_ to believe you're following in his and your parents' footsteps. And that won't last forever."

"I've gotten better at it!" I protested before realizing how that sounded and let my head fall to my chest. "Sadly."

"He has. He figured out if Henry's trying to not cry, he'll believe anything," May explained, no emotion in her voice.

Lopmon and Suze turned to look at me, slightly horrified. "Hey, I'm not happy about it either!" I shouted. I shook my head and picked up her bag. "You know, you could have put that better, May!"

"Why?" she asked.

Lopmon ambled over to Suze's purse. "Well, I suppose this is goodbye for now," she said to the two of us. "It was a pleasure to see you both again. And even more so that you could speak this time."

"... I was the cuter baby," I told May.

"Wrong," she hissed back.

We both looked over at Lopmon. She simply jumped into the bag without another word. May and I snickered and high fived, then began to move down the stairs with Suze behind us.

It was nice to know Henry wouldn't be learning our secret right now, but I'd miss her. And her gifts. After all, I was almost done with the mark 2 because of her saw, and I'd love another gift like that!

 **X X X**

As he helped his younger sister load her bags into her car, Henry was silent, recalling the conversation he had with her the night before. The two of them seated at his table, sharing a drink. "It's been nice to see the kids again," she had remarked as she stared into the drink. She smiled and glanced over at Lopmon sleeping on the table. "She agrees. She hasn't seen them since before they could talk."

"Hmph," Henry had grumbled as his finger circled the lip of his cup. "And what about what I asked you to do?"

Suzie had rolled her eyes at that and downed the rest of her drink. "Ah... Always business, huh, Henry? You _have_ to loosen up."

"Suzie," he had groaned, growing more and more tired with all of this. He had tapped his fingers on the table. "Please?"

Suze had rolled her eyes again. "There's nothing for you to worry about, Henry," she had finally said, letting the words spill out in her usual, high speed manner.

Henry's breath had rushed from him and he'd realized he had been holding it. "That's good," he said. "No Digimon, no problems."

"Well, with you around there's bound to be Digimon some day."

Henry's blood had ran cold at that. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked hollowly, eyes locked on the ice drifting in his drink.

Suzie's hand had grabbed his, and pulled his attention to her. "Henry, you're a good brother. A good father. I doubt you'd ever call yourself that, but you are like a father to Tasuke. You like to protect other people," she had explained softly. She tapped her hand and smiled. "But you don't think all the time. You and Dad both tried to hide the Digimon from everyone when we were kids, and it didn't work. You're obviously still involved with the Americans' Digimon somehow, even though you told all of us you aren't. And if you don't tell Tasuke or May or any of the others the truth, the whole truth, they won't be fully prepared when it all comes back to you again."

Henry had turned away from her. He didn't want to acknowledge the truth of what she had said. "And if they ever do get in trouble, you would want them to tell you, right?" she pointed out, making him more annoyed. "Trust is a two way street, Henry. So if you tell them the truth, it's more likely they'd come to you. Imagine if we had had someone to teach us about all this!"

"Hmph," he had grumbled again. He finally looked back at his sister. "If you say there's no reason to worry, then there's no reason for me to tell them."

"Henry?"

He snapped back to reality just as he closed the trunk of Suzie's car, blinking. He turned to the sound of her voice. "Yes?"

"I'm going to miss you," she said, holding her arms out for a hug.

Henry smiled back and brought her in for a hug. "You really need to visit more," he agreed. He patted her back and let go. "The kids love having you around."

"And I love being around!" she shouted, bouncing and clapping her hands. She calmed down after a moment and laughed. "Well, I'll be back soon."

Henry nodded. "Jaarin and her husband have been very insistent on everyone being around for 'Christmas,'" he acknowledged. "It's a good excuse."

"You'll think about what I told you, right?" she finally asked, her face growing serious.

Henry stared his sister in the eyes and sighed. "Suzie..." he muttered, unsure himself. Hfe studied her face and it clicked. "There's nothing to worry about." Then he patted her shoulder and moved towards the rest of his family.

 _There's nothing for you to worry about_.

Henry had never really thought of his sister as a good liar. And, he was ashamed to admit, he'd always thought of her as the least intelligent of his siblings. It might have been because she was his _younger_ sister, or her chosen profession, or even an overestimation of his own intelligence. Honestly, the why of it didn't really matter to him. All that mattered was that he was the idiot, because she had obviously inherited all of the intelligence he had... and proceeded to put those smarts to work in the realm of words and acting. But she wasn't a liar. She didn't like to lie, so it was easier to hear it in her voice than she thought. When he turned around to wave at her, she saw it in his eyes. He knew, and the trust between them was damaged.

"It was nice to have her around, huh, Henry?" Tasuke asked him before checking his phone. "Ah! May! We're late!" He looked back up at Henry. "We're late for work, see you when we get back!"

Henry didn't acknowledge Tasuke leaving, or Jaarin's family doing the same. He could only watch the retreating car, feeling the ground beneath him giving way. He had to find a way to deal with this. He turned to follow Tasuke, ready to shout, to fight, to... to...

"You're a good brother. A good father."

He stopped in his tracks, watching Tasuke drive away. He couldn't just confront Tasuke or May. He couldn't just... fight and drive them away. They had Digimon, and likely the aid of Gethen, the bastard. And with Gethen, Tasuke could run and never show up again. Or worse, be taken. He had to do this... carefully. Because the idea of losing Tasuke forever terrified him more than anything else. For now, he just had to trust Tasuke could keep himself safe and help whenever he can. Trust was a two way street.

"Stupid Suzie, making sense," he imagined Terriermon saying mockingly. "Momentai Henry! It'll all work out."

 **X X X**

BlackGuilmon had been acting more sullen than usual ever since Dorimon had managed to Digivolve into Dorugamon. A whole week of whining and complaining. He felt like we had all managed to pull one over on him. That it was a conspiracy, and we were trying to make sure he was always a whole Digivolution level behind anyone else. It would be hilarious if that _was_ the case, but it just wouldn't be practical. I needed him to Digivolve after all. Around the time he started begging that he and I get thrown into a life or death battle was when Dorugamon and BaoHuckmon, still in their Champion forms after May had begun training with Davis to get used to the Digivolution, began chasing him around. I thought I heard Dorugamon shout, 'Payback,' but we decided to ignore them for now, and let the larger Digimon chase mine in the other room to their hearts' content. Davis seemed okay with it, so it had to be fine despite the fact that it was basically like letting two minivans run around inside a building. Minivans that were also Dragons.

Still, out of sight, out of mind, right?

I leaned forward in my seat, furiously mashing the buttons of the controller in an attempt to get even a single one of the combos out of the game that May could manage without even thinking. "Come on, come on!" I hissed just before my character received a beat down that drained him to zero health. The screen flashed and shouted at Davis to 'Finish Him.' Two seconds later my character's frozen head was torn from his shoulders, spine included.

"You see? He's terrible at these," May said without looking up from her tech magazine.

"Hey!" I growled, turning away from the constant blood stream falling from my character's neck. "You want to prove it?"

"No need, we all saw it," she pointed out dryly. Fair. We had, given the fact I just got double flawless beat by Davis. "We're lucky the Digimon don't have to rely on a video game controller like that, or BlackGuilmon would be way worse off."

"I... you... Gah!" I growled, throwing the controller down on the couch. "Whatever!"

Davis laughed. "She's not wrong," he agreed. Then, attempting to make me stop pouting, he added, "But I never would have gotten this far either."

Hoping that we could talk about something else, I looked over at May. "Well, what's so interesting that you could read it from an actual magazine while Mortal Kombat went on in the background?"

She glanced over the edge of her magazine. "Do you actually care?" she wondered.

"Uh... Depends on what it is?"

Davis leaned over to look at the page she was on. "Quantum Computing?" he read.

I thought about the Physics based implications of the word 'Quantum.' "Okay, I'm interested," I agreed after a moment, leaning forward to listen.

May looked between the two of us, then put the magazine down. "KayKay... So, most computers use bits, a zero or one, and puts them in strings of multiples of eight to encode information. Your computer uses 64 bits at most to do pretty much everything. The locations are definite and confirmed. In quantum computing, there's a qubit – T. It's... I don't know, I'm still not sure. I think it's like it's connected the information to other information before we know even know it? The magazine says it's like a bunch of coins being flipped at the same time."

"Quantum Superposition," I explained, earning a confused look. I shook my head. "Uh... to get it half right, Schrodinger's cat. By acknowledging the bit is both 1 and 0 at the same time, it's holding more information until the observation collapses."

"You understand Quantum Mechanics?" Davis asked, surprised.

I snorted. "No. I don't know if anybody _knows_ Quantum Mechanics all that well," I explained jokingly. I frowned and added, more seriously, "Except for people who have dedicated their lives to it. I mean, some of it's easy to understand. Like Quantum Entaglement. At its core, it's just 'all sub-atomic matter is the same.' Do something to one electron, it happens to another because they're the same. And then you get stuff like how light behaves differently if its being observed in the two slats experiment."

"Quantum Entanglement... You know, that kind of reminds me of what happened with the Digivices," May muttered after a moment, resting her chin on her palm and biting a nail.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

May sighed. "I mean, you remember when Dorimon became Dorumon for the first time, right? Your Digivice lit up just like mine! And the same thing happened with the agent's when she became Dorugamon for the first time."

"Oh, that," Davis said, nodding. He leaned back. "If you find out why it happens, the R&D guys have been trying to figure it out for years. They'd love an explanation, especially since it only happens on the first Digivolution."

I was still on Quantum Entanglement, though, and the idea of Quantum Computing. "You know, I wonder if you can combine the Superposition and Entanglement for a next gen Quantum Computer," I mumbled after a moment. Davis and May glanced at me, muttering under my breath, then shrugged at one another. "Data could be accessed almost instantly by -"

At that point, BlackGuilmon charged through the doorway, caring very little for the fact we were having a conversation. "That's it!" he shouted, the door flying off of its hinges and scraping along the top of the TV before landing on the other side of the room. He rushed up to me and growled inches from my face.

"Oh, your breath!" I gagged, reaching up and shoving him away. "Jeez, what did you eat!?"

"I will not be chased by that tiny munchkin or the _babysitter_ anymore!" he snapped, launching more rancid breath into my face.

I gagged again and shoved him harder. "Then what do you want to do?" I asked.

"I want to fight and hunt!" he shouted excitably.

May scoffed. "Yeah, that's a no go, Troll."

His head snapped towards her and he growled angrily. "She's right. There's nothing for you to hunt or fight right now," I cut in before they could have their usual 'who can get the other to resort to violence first' tournament. I bit my cheek and hummed. "Too bad it isn't Halloween yet. Maybe we could get away with letting you roam around then."

"There's always the varsity football game," May suggested. She glanced at her Digivice to check the time and nodded. "I bet your troll would love watching that, and we can make it if we hurry."

Davis crossed his arms and shook his head. "No way. There's too much risk of revealing a large Digimon like him." He pointed at Dorugamon, who was trying to force her head through the tiny door. "Unlike her, he won't Dedigivolve to pass for a dog."

"Oh, come on! He'll behave!" I begged before turning on him and growling. " _Won't you?_ "

"Will there be Digimon to hunt?" he asked.

"No."

He groaned, the annoyed noise echoing from his bones. "Then why would I want to go?"

"Well, it's that or you stay here alone until tomorrow," I pointed out.

He blinked and glanced around at the three of us. "Of course I'll behave. I'll get food, right?"

"There we go," May said, pointing at BlackGuilmon. "Quickest way to a Digimon's heart is through their stomach."

"I haven't said this is okay!" Davis snapped. He looked at us all imploringly. "It's dangerous, Guys!"

"... Grab some food and sneak them around to the back field? We should be able to see the field from there without anyone seeing us," I said, turning to May and ignoring Davis. "We could get some snacks and come around the back."

"Yeah!" BlackGuilmon shouted. He reached out with his arms and grabbed hold of my arms, pulling me off the couch. "Now, I'm hungry!"

"But -"

"KayKay!" May and I shouted, rushing after BlackGuilmon, past a DeDigivolving Dorugamon and BaoHuckmon. "Let's go!"

"Wait... Wait! No, wait!" Davis snapped, surging to his feet. His partner watched him go for a moment, then DeDigivolved. "Guys, wait for me!"

 **X X X**

BlackGuilmon moved with a predatory silence between Davis and me, barely needing the black tarp we'd shoved over him to keep him hidden. The two of our packs were full of snacks and food, enough even for three Digimon to last an hour. May was, of course, carrying Dorimon with a hand clamped over the Digimon's mouth to keep her from shouting and attracting attention to the upper field. She was still grunting pretty loud, even muffled as she was. Huckmon was nowhere to be seen, though that didn't mean he wasn't nearby. May turned around from the edge of the field and motioned that it was clear, and we rushed forward.

"What exactly are we supposed to be looking at up here?" BlackGuilmon growled beneath the tarp.

"Just give it a minute," I told him, leading him over to where we could see the lights and the field. I took the tarp off of him and spread it out so we could sit down. He glowered at my suggestion, but eventually turned to the field. It was almost kickoff, and knowing him he'd enjoy it. "Remember, we're cheering for the team in _red_."

"I doubt I will do much cheering, Tasuke," BlackGuilmon grumbled in reply.

Davis sat down on BlackGuilmon's right, Huckmon appearing out of thin air behind him. May came over and sat to my left, putting Dorimon down and grabbing a licorice from my bag to toss to her. "You got any chocolate in there?" Huckmon asked, stuffing his face into my bag.

"Huckmon, manners!" Davis hissed. He grabbed hold of his Digimon's cape and yanked him out of my bag, a half eaten chocolate bar hanging out of his mouth. "Come on, everyone needs to eat that stuff!"

"Thowwy, Thavith," Huckmon muttered, not sounding 'Thowwy' at all. He tossed his head up and swallowed the rest of the chocolate, wrapper and all. "I'll try harder..."

Davis groaned and opened his own bag, taking out a bag of chocolates for his partner. "Yay!" Huckmon said, diving in and eating, once more without unwrapping them.

BlackGuilmon's head turned slowly towards me and he growled, a low and threatening noise. "I'm going," I finally said. I reached into my bag and pulled out a plastic box of mini cinnamon rolls. "They aren't Cinnabon, but I don't know how much you'll -" He tore open the box and stuffed his face in, gorging himself on the store brand cinnaomon rolls. "- care." I shook my head. "Digimon."

I turned back to the game. "Okay, watch," I told BlackGuilmon. Our team was kicking first, and I knew he'd love what came next.

BlackGuilmon stopped gorging himself, rolled his eyes, and turned back to the game with a huff. He stared at the game and sighed as the ball soared through the air. "What's the big deal about this?" he asked as the other team began to rush forward, getting closer to ours. "I mean -" And then one of our players slammed into the guy with the ball at full speed, slamming him into the ground with a thud even we could hear.

BlackGuilmon surged to his feet. "Yes!" he growled. Smoke was rising from his nose, and an excited look on his face.

"Not surprised he loves this," Davis said.

"HIT HIM HARDER!" May snapped, surging up on my left and surprising Davis.

I chuckled. "Yeah, he's not the only one."

BlackGuilmon and May glared at each other, not sure about the other one liking the sport they liked, then turned back and shouted in rage when the other team got a first down. "At least they can both like it," Dorimon told us as she trotted up beside me. She looked over at Davis and Huckmon. "Just be glad her dad isn't here. That guy gets crazy about this stuff."

I nodded. "That's one underwhelming word for it," I agreed, my ears already ringing from memories of his shouting at the TV when the Broncos, the local pro team, failed to keep the other team from scoring.

BlackGuilmon and May cheered, interrupting us again. "See, you two can be friends," I told them after a moment.

They turned to glare at me, then at one another. "I guess the Troll isn't... completely horrible."

"And the hag must not be that weak if she enjoys a sport like this," BlackGuilmon remarked.

"Ah, backhanded compliments," Huckmon chortled. "The foundation of the best friendships!"

I grinned at all of them. "... Sure. Friends," BlackGuilmon muttered disagreeably. Then our team sacked the other one's Quarterback and we all cheered.

Friends. I liked the sound of that, especially since BlackGuilmon agreed. Well, agreed for him, at least. It was going to be a good night.

 **X X X**

Henry tapped his fingers on his work desk, staring at his D-Power and the static on its screen. He'd figured out the truth about Tasuke, he was sure of that. And probably May, too. They were involved with Digimon, and he had to find a way to confront Gethen about that without tipping his hand too much. A few innocuous questions he had to come up with to figure out more. But he had something to deal with right then and there instead. He glanced over at the letter he had written, hoping he could find a way to send it in a message through his D-Power. Takato and Rika deserved to know that their only son was in the same position they had been, once.

Henry picked up the letter and read through it one more time. It was quick, and hopefully easy to send in whatever short time frame he had before the connection failed as it usually did. "Guys, Tasuke is a Tamer. I think he knows where you are. Trying to find you. I'll keep him safe. Henry." It didn't say everything he wanted, but it would have to do.

Henry turned to the Digivice and pulled open its casing, then picked up his tools and began going to work on the wiring. After every move, he made sure to look at the screen and say what he was doing for the recording device in case he needed to replicate what he had done to send a message later. He made a few more moves and nearly had a heart attack when the screen turned bright white. "Uh..."

The word popped up on the screen in green. "Uh..."

Henry blinked once, then rushed and grabbed hold of his message. "Guys, Tasuke is a Tamer. I think he knows where you are. He's trying to find you. I'll keep him safe. Hen -"

Then the screen went black, cutting him off. Henry sighed and shut off the recording device, happy that he had managed to find a way to activate the messaging system, if not for the fact that it hadn't even lasted long enough to get twenty three words out. He shook his head and reached out to place the cover back on his D-Power, just as the screen returned to its usual static. "I hope that got through," Henry muttered to himself. He lifted his old Digivice up in one hand and stared into the screen, remembering everything he had done as a child. Everything that had made his childhood so exciting, so fun... so dangerous. "Terriermon, what would you think I should do?"

Henry glanced down at the sleeping form of Momentai. "Probably just tell them. Then 'Momentai.'" The dog perked up at the sound of his name and barked happily, tail wagging. Henry smiled and scratched his ears, causing the dog to drift back to sleep. "But you never were one for being careful, even when you needed to be."

Henry stared at the dog for a moment longer, then turned back to his Digivice's static screen. "I wonder what you're up to. Are you with Takato and Rika? Ryo? Or... alone? Maybe Beelzemon is keeping an eye on you, but that might be _more_ dangerous..."

He was going to list more possibilities, but stopped when the screen turned white again. "Takato, I think you're wasting time! What? No I – Crap! Uh, what do I say? Let me! Thanks Henry, we trust you to-"

Henry stared at the message and chuckled. Takato and Rika were quite the pair, and it was nice to hear they hadn't changed that much. He was just happy Guilmon hadn't started piping in during the confusion. That would have wasted even more of the words they had. Henry placed the Digivice down and opened it up, going through the steps he'd described on his recording. Nothing happened.

Henry groaned and leaned back, arms crossed. "Either that was a fluke or it needs to recharge somehow," he noted, eyes narrowing on the device. "Just couldn't make it... Because you only work when absolutely necessary, huh? I don't know why Shibumi designed you like that, dammit..."

He placed the cover on the D-Power once again and stood up with a smile. "At least you _always_ work when absolutely necessary," he remarked. He stood up and placed his hands in his pockets, still smiling wide. "Which means it's absolutely necessary." He frowned and repeated, hollowly this time: "Which means... it's absolutely necessary..."

 **X X X**

"Okay! Test number one of the Taj Series 2 Automatic Crossbow!" I exclaimed in the warehouse's shooting range, standing at a table and dumping out the pencil case in which I had stored the disassembled weapon. The pieces all clattered on the table and I put on my 'salesman voice.' "As you can see, the pieces are small enough to be transported in even the smallest containers, and are indistinguishable from simple metal sticks." I picked up the next piece, the cartridge shaped like a pencil sharpener. "And the non-lethal ammunition can be capped with an actual pencil sharpener, for extra stealth and added functionality!"

"Who uses anything but mechanical pencils?" May asked.

I glared at her. "Hush! I'm working!" I snapped. She flinched back and I cleared my throat. "Now, as you can see, this is something that we definitely need! Neither May nor myself are excited by the concept of using lethal weaponry, and it's bound to happen that some kind of Digimon will try to find us at school one day, so we'll need something that we can use at school to keep everyone safe. Again, the non-lethal factor adds in because... well, May is a terrible shot."

"Wha – I'm getting better!" she snapped at me.

I glared again until she sat down, still grumbling at me. "As I was saying, this will make it so we're far less likely to hurt the people we are trying to defend when in a fight. Now, I will demonstrate the accuracy and power of this weapon on the ballistic dummy provided by our, ahem, 'wonderful' bosses."

I picked up my parts and slowly put it together, taking my time to demonstrate exactly how to build the automatic crossbow. Then, with a flourish, I displayed the completed product. "Observe!" I turned and fired once, the small metal sphere flying towards the ballistic dummy and slamming into it. The fake torso bent bent slightly where I hit it, on one of the ribs, and the bone visibly shattered within as the ball bounced off. I fired twice more, aiming at the shoulder and gut. Only one of them fired correctly; the string snapped and the one aimed for the gut bounced off the wall and rebounded towards me. I yelped and jumped to the side as it bounced past me and clattered to a stop.

"Dammit, this is what I get for skimping on the string!" I growled. I wanted to throw the crossbow, but couldn't bring myself to harm such beautiful – sure, I'm biased, but it's true – craftsmanship. Instead, I groaned and stood up, placing the broken device back on the table. I tried to take it apart, but it seemed like something got stuck. "Ugh... back to the drawing board. _Again_."

"Not bad," Davis finally said, walking forward and picking up the failure. He examined it and nodded approvingly. "There really hasn't been much of a market for these, you know? Most agents are actual agents. Former CIA, FBI, military, so guns are standard issue, and with their cover they can get most placed with them no problem. But we're high schoolers; it would never work. But there's not enough of us for them to design these. But if you want, I can pass your final designs along and they can produce more of them. Any future Digidestined will need to defend themselves, after all."

I grinned at the praise. "Uh – thanks!" I said, grinning wide.

"Good job, Taj," May said as she came up, patting my back. "When you make one that works, I'll be glad to use it."

"Thanks... I think?" I shook my head and looked down at the automatic crossbow. "Hm... I need a better string, definitely. And maybe some way to tighten and loosen the connections? It would take longer to build and pull apart, but it would be more exact. I just have to make sure that it doesn't get in the way of the launching string."

"And you say I get too into things," May said, slapping my back again and breaking my train of thought. "Come on, it's a good second try. You can take your notes later."

"She's right," Davis said. He turned to us. "Time for the ten mile run, after all."

I grimaced. "Oh. Fun..."

 **X X X**

Jennifer Smith wasn't quite sure what to make of her and Cadetmon's new partners. One doesn't manage to Digivolve to Ultimate without being a pretty accomplished Tamer and partner, after all. On the other hand, they seemed to have this weird... honor code. It was why she had decided to work with them knowing they could be trusted not to backstab her. And Cadetmon agreed, so she knew for a fact he was on the up and up. So that probably meant that the honor code was real, and her worries were unfounded. "Now that we have agreed to work together, we should probably work on coming up with a plan," Jennifer said from her side of the hotel room.

"I agree. We have probably reached the point we know we can trust one another, after all," Chiros replied simply, his Koromon nodding in agreement in his lap. "So, what do you know about our quarry so far?"

"Not much. It's a teenager, and they have some connection to the First Biomerger," Cadetmon explained. He tapped his cheek. "And likely, he or she has a pair of violet goggles that once belonged to the First."

"The First Biomerger?" Koromon asked, awestruck. "He's _real?_ "

Chiros glanced down at his partner. "I assumed they were like the Digimon equivalent of Hercules or Achilles. Stories built around the idea of events that existed?" he remarked in surprise. "Then... the stories are completely accurate?"

Jennifer shrugged. "It seems like it," she supplied, the entire thing sounding just as weird to her. "But if that's the case, there aren't a lot of things that could kill them or chase them into the Digital World. So why aren't they here?"

"It must have something to do with this other Digidestined. If I'm correct, then they must be connected to the Digidestined that I discovered, as well as their guardian," Chiros explained. "Which means it's likely that we'll find the Hazard's Digidestined at the same school as Mayumi Anderson, and I'm willing to bet who the other Digidestined is."

"Why?" Cadetmon wondered.

"Simple. Her uncle is Henry Wong, the son of a Monster Maker!" Koromon explained excitedly. "And he's the legal guardian of some kid that goes to the same school as Mayui."

"A Monster Maker..." Cadetmon muttered.

Smith frowned and began absently petting the excited Digimon in her lap. "I agree. That's probably the Digidestined I'm looking for," she said quietly. "But we can't be sure until we have one of our Digimon get close, or we find a 3-D on him."

"So we have to get someone in that school!" Koromon pointed out. He looked up at her. "And you said you're working as a substitute teacher, right? Then all we have to do is get you a job there."

"But what are the odds that one of those teachers will get sick and I'll get chosen?" she supplied.

Chiros glared at her in surprise. "We... injure the teachers until you get the job," he explained. He sighed. "If we could avoid it, I would, but it seems that time is of the essence."

"I suppose I could force my way higher up the list. The sub agency's cybersecurity is... lacking," she added in. "At least that way we won't have to do it to as many of the teachers."

"We'll keep it believable, though," Cadetmon explained. "Jumping to the top would attract attention from D-CARD, especially this close to two Digidestined they're guarding."

"And that's not even mentioning the possibility that the third Digidestined is here," Smith pointed out before shivering in fear. "I've seen a few of his mission reports back before me and Cadetmon were partnered up. He has a trail of bodies, human and Digimon, he's left behind, and he's been able to Digivolve to Ultimate for almost two years now."

"So he's dangerous. Any information on his identity?" Chiros wondered calmly.

"Redacted," Jennifer sighed in defeat. "They didn't want to risk his identity getting out."

"It was a long shot," Cadetmon admitted. "So we'll just have to be careful. We need to isolate the Hazard Digimon without risking a drawn out fight with the Digidestined's guardians." He tapped his chin and jumped down from her lap. "But I suppose that we can worry about that later. For now, we need to find out which teacher you're replacing, Jen. Chiros, you and Koromon would be too recognizable by Mayumi, so we should go check that out. While we do that, you two should find out more about the place you fought her. We won't be able to avoid every trap, but we can at least sidestep the more deadly ones when or if the time comes."

Jennifer, Chiros, and Koromon gave each other a look, then looked back at Cadetmon. "You got it, Boss," Jennifer said, giving her partner a salute.

 **X X X**

 _It figures that Terriermon would finally give me some space and he would vanish for so long I'd be scrambling to find a way to get to him. Even when he isn't around, he can't help but make me worry. He's a foot tall trouble magnet! And since Takato and Guilmon are exactly the same, I can only assume they aren't together in the Digital World. After all, they would have attracted some universe ending threat by then._

 _I hope... uh, me? Wow, this whole 'future' thing is weird. No wonder Takato and Rika couldn't talk to each other for two weeks after seeing all this. Anyways, I hope future me figures out how to talk to Tasuke soon. Hard to believe my first instinct with Digimon was to act exactly like my dad did, but here's where Terriermon would probably tell me I've always acted like him. And then probably 'Momentai,' like he always does. Glad I didn't teach him the French word for Seal instead, or things would have been bad._

 _Well, maybe we'll find out more on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters._


	16. Trick or Treat:A Digital Halloween!

**AN: Hey everyone, and Happy New Year! I hope you're all having a great time! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It was fun to write, and has some fun character moments with the Digimon, I think.**

 **Just so everyone knows, I'll be starting a new job in the next few weeks, so my updates might be slower for while as I get used to the schedule, move to a new state, and start doing some new stuff. But I'll still be working on this in my free time when I can.**

 **Responses:**

 **To smartalec121: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! Yeah, Henry's a smart guy who's gone through something similar before, so it wouldn't be long before he figured it out. Still, Suzie is right about him and Tasuke needing to trust each other and tell each other their secrets. They're family, and they need each other's help to get through all this. Tasuke could use Henry's advice, and Henry needs Tasuke to get to the Digital World. And yeah. The Digital World isn't a calm place, even in the shows where it isn't a desert wasteland.**

 **Now, enjoy and I'll see you soon!**

 _ **Episode 16: Trick or Treat: A Digital Halloween!**_

Halloween night had finally come around, so Davis, May, our Digimon, and I were all getting ready to go out together. Davis had even gotten permission from Gethen for this, though that might just have been because trying to contain Digimon on a day devoted to candy and eating was a losing battle. Keeping BlackGuilmon from tearing my backpack apart was already enough of a daily struggle, so I would have let him out anyways. So, here I was, dressed up in a pretty basic Ash Ketchum costume. Blue vest, an old hat, and a pokeball toy I was able to find while rooting around in my old stuff. The best part of the costume was still in my backpack – and it was meant for BlackGuilmon.

"Hey, Henry, I'll be out for a while!" I shouted as I rushed out the door. "Me, May, and Davis are going to hang out!"

"Davis? Is he the other one you guys work with?" he asked, but I decided not to answer, as I was already out the door, slamming it shut. I jumped in the truck and drove off, speeding across town until I made it to the warehouse with barely a minute before I was late. On time!

"Took you long enough," May muttered from beside Dorumon. Dorumon was... eclectic, dressed in something that made her look like a little girl who couldn't decide between werewolf and princess so decided to go for both. She seemed excited about it. May had decided to go along with the werewolf half of the costume, kind of. At least I think so. She had some weird pilgrim hat on, a bunch of crosses, a long leather jacket. She saw my confused glare and shook her head. "I'm a Van Helsing. Like it?"

"... That's what that is?" I asked, unsure if I liked it. It was... a lot of metal and leather.

"And I'm a werewolf princess!" Dorumon shouted, the tiny pink crown bobbing around on her head as she jumped up and down in front of me.

"Yeah, I got that one. Nice costume!" I told the Digimon, earning an angrier glare from May.

"Finally," Davis said as he walked out of the back room, wearing a cheap looking plastic helmet and shield for a medieval knight. Huckmon was stumbling next to him, trying to walk on two legs in a ninja costume. "Someone who won't make me look like I didn't try."

"But you _didn't_ try!" Huckmon piped up, somewhat muffled by the mask around his face.

"Yeah, well... Who tries that hard!?" Davis shouted at his partner while gesticulating in our friend's direction.

"So I'm the only one who is going to be matching?" I asked May and Davis, faking disappointment in both of them. I looked around after a moment. "Wait, where's BlackGuilmon?"

"BlackJerkmon got too excited for the candy and started eating the couch. We had to lock him up in the arenas until you got here," Dorumon explained, sounding just _exhausted_ from the ordeal. She grinned. "But I did get to beat him up, so it's okay!"

"You take a _little_ too much happiness from that," I told the Digimon nervously before heading back to meet my own partner When I pulled open the door, he was laying flat on the floor, slamming his tail into the ground and whining.

He slowly turned his head to me. "They locked me in here alone..." he whined at me. He jumped to his feet and began to snarl. "I'll kill them all! Screw the Load List!"

"No, you won't, BlackGuilmon," I told him. I walked up and scratched his head for a moment, then pulled off my backpack. He glanced up at me and sniffed it, growing annoyed there was no food in it he could smell. "It's your costume!" I reached in and pulled out a harness with a pair of black wings, a fake flame for his tail, and some white makeup to cover up the Hazard on his white chest.

"What is that?" he asked while I slowly advanced towards him.

I chuckled. "It's your costume so we can match, _Shiny Charizard_ ," I told him, an evil grin growing on my face.

"No!" he gasped as he scrambled backwards. "No, I won't do it! No!" He hit the wall of the arena. "NOOOOoooooo!"

Ten minutes later, I came out – fresh scratches and light burns I would have to deal with – accompanied by my Shiny Charizard, smoke rising from his nostrils. "Yeah, keep doing that," I told him. "It makes the costume seem more real."

"Oh, that's so cool!" Huckmon shouted. He wobbled over on two legs and stared up at BlackGuilmon with wide eyes. "You're a Charizard and a Trainer, I'm so jealous!"

BlackGuilmon stared down in surprise. With a short glance at me, he smiled. "Well... only the best costume for the best Digimon," he said as arrogantly as possible. "But, um, what _is_ a Charizard?"

"Not bad, Taj," May said as she and Davis came up. She smacked my back hard enough to hurt before wrapping her arms around Davis and my shoulders. "KayKay, what's the plan?"

I nodded. "Well, I thought we could start simple," I explained before turning towards our Digimon, finally interacting like... acquaintances? Yeah, acquaintances. "What kind of candy crazy child wouldn't want a chance to trick or treat?"

May chuckled nervously at that suggestion. "You really think people will buy that they're kids?"

It was Davis that defended my plan. "Yeah, actually," he began. "After all, people would rather think they're really good costumes than small dragons. It worked with Digimon after the Shinjuku Incident, after all."

"Fine, fine," May said. She let go of us and gestured at us both. "But I'm not responsible for when the Troll decides to light someone on fire for giving him a toothbrush instead of snacks."

"I'll be on my best behavior, _Hag_ ," BlackGuilmon said, only his ears – standing in for the Charizard Horns – angled towards us.

"I hate him," May told me. "I hate him so much."

"Calm down. We'll have fun, okay?" I told her. I grinned excitedly. "Now, you remember where the big candy is, right? I'm thinking we put a... ten percent tax on the 'kids.'"

 **X X X**

"Candy!"

"Trick or Treat!"

One of those was BlackGuilmon, and the other was Dorumon and Huckmon. I'll leave it to you to guess which was which.

The woman stared down at the three of them before smiling at Dorumon and Huckmon and giving them each two large candy bars... and then turning to BlackGuilmon and dropping one in. He looked down and back up. "Where's my second?" And then she slammed the door.

"You really should try being a little nicer," Dorumon told him while they hobbled down the stairs and the driveway back towards us. "That's why they gave us more candy!"

BlackGuilmon just grumbled under his breath and ignored her, using his claws to hold his bag tight. Huckmon hobbled along a step or so behind them, struggling to stand upright. "She's not wrong," I told him. He shot me a glare and the smoke began to rise again. "Calm down. I'm just saying, if you want more candy from people, you need to stop snapping 'Candy!' at them. The words 'Trick or Treat' do go a _long_ way."

"But what's the point of saying 'trick or treat' when it's the same as saying 'candy?'" he asked as we passed a group of kids who stared at his costume in awe. And most just avoided May's. I glanced over at May, who caught my glance and glared back. So what, I like being right.

"It's tradition," Davis explained for me. "These things matter. They are part of who we are, and people like it when you agree to follow them, too."

"... Stupid humans, using 'feelings' like that."

"They're not so bad when you get used to them," Huckmon countered. He wobbled for a moment before catching his balance with his tail and pushing forward again. "Halloween is a tradition! Thanksgiving! Oh, Christmas! And most of the big ones here involve food! So much humans can't even finish it all. So much I can't even finish it all!"

"And he's tried his best," Davis muttered under his breath.

" _The point is_ ," Huckmon explained, annoyed with his partner's dig at him, "just say it. It's why we're getting more than you."

We reached the next house and I nodded. "Just try it," I echoed. With a huff, he marched off with the other Digimon up to the doorway.

"Trick or treat!"

" **TRICK OR TREAT!** "

"Oh, God," I groaned, slamming my head into my hand.

He came back with his pupils as thin as a razor edge. "I didn't even get candy that time!" he snapped at me.

A trio of kids came up to us, bags heavy with candy, and moved towards him. "Wow, that's a cool -" one reached out.

He turned and roared at them. The kids screamed, dropped their bags, and sprinted away at full speed. We watched them run for a few moments, their terror echoing. And then BlackGuilmon and I broke out laughing. "Did you see their faces?" I asked, doubled over and clutching my gut. "They're going to be telling that story forever!"

BlackGuilmon chuckled before turning to the candy. "And look what I got out of it!" he shouted, dropping his own bag and beginning to shovel their bags into his own. He smirked over at Dorumon and Huckmon. "Now who has the most candy? Oh! Let's go scare more kids to get more candy!"

"No!" May shouted. She slapped my back, cutting off my laughter. "Tell him no!"

I looked at her and shrugged. "What? Scaring kids is a hallmark of Halloween! They'll be fine," I told her dismissively.

"It's not a hallmark when it's a _Digimon!"_ Davis hissed. "This isn't okay."

I groaned and nodded. "Fine. You're right," I admitted. "It's different when a dinosaur scares kids."

"And he leaves the candy," May demanded.

I scoffed. "You want to wrestle it out of his bag, be my guest. I'm not risking my hands for that," I told her with a gesture at BlackGuilmon's defensive snarling at the idea. "But you're right. No more stealing candy. I guess that is a _bit_ mean."

"Funny and rewarding, though," BlackGuilmon pointed out with a bag now heavier than Dorumon's and Huckmon's combined. He glared up at me hopefully. "We aren't really going to listen, are we?"

"Yeah, we are," I said. I grimaced at the hint of guilt in my gut. "I kinda feel a little bad about you scaring them and taking their candy... even if it was funny."

Thankfully, our beeping Digivices cut in before May could snap at me again. We pulled them out and saw a swirling compass pointing towards the nearby suburban park. "Oh... that's not good," I muttered.

May gasped. "A Digimon bio-emerging this close to so many kids on Halloween... If we don't stop it, so many people could die..." she said hollowly.

Davis turned towards the park. "Then we stop it. Let's go."

BlackGuilmon was already charging ahead of us, bag slung over his back and leaking a little candy as he went. "Prey!"

"Of course that's his thought process," I grumbled before charging after him. "BG, you do know that if something happened, there would be no more candy for any of you, right? I'm okay with scaring kids, but at least _try_ to value life!"

We and our Digimon rushed towards the burgeoning Bio-Emergence, the growing static of the Digital Field drawing our attention. I pulled on my dad's goggles and charged in, Van Helsing and St. George doing the same with their sunglasses when they came behind me. I pulled up my Digivice again and watched it finish its scan of the area, the darkness and trees around us giving off the perfect, creepy vibe for the Digimon that popped up on my screen. "Myotismon..." I gasped, my mind immediately going back to the old TV show. "A Ghost type Virus Digimon. The king of Undead Digimon, he can revive the Digimon he destroys as evil Virus Digimon. He's cruel, he's smart, and he's pure evil, and he's twice as strong at night. His Nightmare Claw attack can paralyze a Digimon, at which Grisly Wing attack sends a swarm of bats that attack and drain their target to nothing." I glanced around nervously. "It's night time and we're fighting a Vampire. Van Helsing, this one's on you."

"Thanks," May muttered dryly as she looked around, just as nervous as me. Davis, meanwhile, had gone full Government Agent mode, turning a scary, icy calm. "I'm so excited." She raised her Digivice. "Digi-Modify! Digivolution, activate!" The egg appeared around Dorumon, who yelped and dropped her candy, rushing away from it before she finished Digivolving, shredding her costume.

"Aw... My princess outfit," Dorugamon muttered sadly, staring at the pink scraps on the ground.

BlackGuilmon glared at me. "What?"

"How come she gets to get out of her costume?" he growled, earning a well deserved eye roll for his trouble.

"Where's Myotismon?" Davis asked, glancing over at his partner.

Huckmon frowned and looked around. "I don't know. It's like he's invisible, Davis," he explained as he crouched on all fours and glared around. "I can't even smell him."

"What are you talking about? He's over there," BlackGuilmon said after a sniff of his own. We all followed his pointing claw and saw a tall, Vampiric Digimon creep out of the shadows.

"It seems your pet has a nose that even I can't fool," he said, his voice dripping with Dracula-esque charisma and disdain.

The remark set me and BlackGuilmon off. "Not a pet!" we shouted together. Then, just me this time, "He's my friend."

BlackGuilmon glanced over at me, an odd look on his face, then returned to growl at Myotismon. "So, how do we do this, Tasuke?" he asked. "I think Loading an Ultimate will make Digivolving even _easier_!"

"If you could fight one," I told him cautiously. I glanced towards Davis. "Aren't you going to Digivolve? We could definitely use an Ultimate here."

Davis frowned and shook his head. "I'll step in when I need to. For now, show me what you guys can do."

"Great. Love the confidence," May remarked dryly before looking over at our opponent. "Ready, Taj?"

"As I'll ever be." I pulled out my small deck of cards. "Let's go! Digi-Modify! Agumon Expert, activate!" I shouted as our Digimon charged the Ultimate. I pulled my next card before anything could happen. "Digi-Modify! Hyper-Speed activate!"

Dorugamon took to the skies as BlackGuilmon charged from the ground, claws glowing with energy. "Rock Crusher!" he snapped, bringing his claws into Myotismon's knees.

Where they did nothing. The Vampire laughed darkly and brought his leg back then forward, the snap kick sending a stunned BlackGuilmon soaring away. "How disappointing," he remarked before turning and slapping Dorugamon's Cannonball attack away with his own attack. "Nightmare Claw!" He threw his hand out, sending a blackened, evil looking ghost flying at the attack, robbing the metal sphere of all momentum so it fell to the ground.

"Cute," he remarked, then he jumped into the air. "Grisly Wing!" A cloud of bats flew out from his cape, swarming the battlefield and charging both our Digimon.

Being a Rookie, I doubted that BlackGuilmon could manage to survive long against those. I scrambled through my cards, looking for a useful one before grinning and pulling it up. "May, get ready to let loose the strongest attack card you can!" I told her before sliding the card. "Digi-Modify! Apollomon, activate!"

BlackGuilmon grinned and charged the cloud of bats flying towards him. His body began to glow, brighter and brighter until it seemed that a sun was ablaze in the center of the park. Myotismon shrieked in pain and fell from the sky, his powers destroyed by the strength of the sun. "Sun Ball Blast!"

"Digi-Modify! Alphamon Activate!" May shouted, and her partner above began to glow as a ethereal, green ring appeared around her.

"Digitalize Soul!" Purple streaks of light shot out of the green ring, rocketing towards Myotismon.

The evil Ultimate Digimon glanced at the bright, sunlike attack coming his way, then at the attacks of incredibly powerful Royal Knight code from the other side. Then the attacks slammed into where he was, sending a massive, glowing explosion upward and outward. Dust crystallized in the air, and began to rain down as glass. "That's not going to be easy to explain," Davis muttered, annoyed. He turned to his partner. "I think we've seen enough, right?"

"Right!" Huckmon shouted, dropping his own candy and rushing forward.

Davis reached into his pocket and pulled out a card I had never seen before. It was a bright blue on both sides, with nothing but a green 'D' at the center. "Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution, activate!" he snapped, and a huge, brown egg appeared around Huckmon, this one see through so we could view the change within. His skin flew off of him, revealing a brown wireframe beneath that grew quickly into one form, then stood up straight on a pair of knife like legs and grew even larger. A pair of large blades grew from his arms and his tail turned into a massive blade of its own. The Digimon's skin began to re-integrate and the egg exploded, revealing the massive, bipedal Dragon Man within.

He roared his name to the sky and slashed with his arms. "SaviorHuckmon!"

"What? Why did you Digivolve him? I thought this was over!" I shouted at Davis.

"Then where's the Data your partner wants to Load?" he asked, and I froze. That... was a good question.

I turned to BlackGuilmon. "Where is he?"

"Right here." Myotismon flew out of the ground as a shadow, slamming into Dorugamon and knocking her over. "Nightmare Claw!" The attack crashed into her and she screamed before freezing, her entire body turning a deep black as the paralyzing assault hit her.

"Dorugamon!" May shouted, terrified.

"Take him down," Davis told SaviorHuckmon, and the Ultimate charged forward, his cape fluttering behind him. Myotismon glanced up from his frozen prey and his eyes widened just before SaviorHuckmon slammed into him feet first, tearing them both away from Dorugamon.

"Ledge Strayed!" SaviorHuckmon shouted, and the blades of his feet began to glow a bright white, the attack tearing into his opponent's body and causing him to roar out.

"Digi-Modify! Agumon Expert, activate!" Davis snapped, and the glow began to grow brighter, burning Myotismon even more as it turned into a Vaccine type attack. "Power, activate!"

SaviorHuckmon backflipped away from his opponent and landed without a noise before charging him again. "Nightmare Claw!" Myotismon gasped out, sending out an attempt to paralyze his opponent.

But he was too fast, leaping over the attack and opening his jaw while still in the air. "Meteor Flame!" Quick blasts of flame flew from his mouth, crashing into Myotismon and stunning him slightly. As SaviorHuckmon got close, the red blades on his arms and tail began to glow a bloody, bright red. "You like destroyed data, right? Let's see yours! Trident Saber!" He shot forward with a single jump, and a red, six pointed star appeared on Myotismon as SaviorHuckmon landed behind him. The red on his own blades died down... before all three cuts finally dealt their damage. Myotismon was hit, vertically up to down, then from left shoulder to right hip, then from right shoulder to left hip, and the blades carved through him. He screamed, and his data began to drift to the sky.

I looked over at BlackGuilmon. "Well?"

He sighed and shook his head. "You don't absorb the data of a Digimon you didn't defeat," he explained sullenly.

I scoffed. "That's stupid. We need it!" I told him.

He looked towards me, looking as annoyed with his own decision as I was. "It's, ugh, _tradition_."

 **X X X**

May or Tasuke's phones. Those had to be their Digivices, Henry was sure of it. After all, it made sense. She had 'gotten a new phone' not long after he had been told of the first Digimon to appear, and then Tasuke's had changed not long after Gethen had shown up, unannounced, at their door to tell Henry about the BlackGuilmon. This presented a problem. Tasuke had been on his best behavior, lately. While usually that would be good, it didn't give Henry any opportunity to take the phone again so he could study it and, maybe, use it to connect him with Takato and Rika again. After all, that's what phones were for, so it made sense a Digivice phone could let him call them with some effort.

But that's not what he should be focusing on, he reminded himself. He had a more pressing conversation to deal with – Gethen himself. They had a video call scheduled for – Henry checked his watch and grumbled. Five minutes ago. The man liked to make people wait, probably to make himself seem more important since he couldn't be bothered to be on time. It made Henry think he was annoying more than anything else. Still, he did wait in his basement workshop, so he had to begrudgingly accept that it gave Gethen what he wanted. Eventually, Gethen did call in.

"Terribly sorry, Henry, I was in an important meeting. How was your Halloween?" the man asked as he appeared on the computer screen, leaning back in his chair. "Plenty of trick or treaters out there in suburbia, yes?"

"Yes. Plenty," Henry responded through his teeth. "But I'm here for _business_ , Gethen."

The head of D-CARD sighed and leaned forward onto his desk. "How boring, Henry. And here I thought we had a rapport," he said sarcastically. He tented his hands. "Well, what do you have to report?"

"First of all, I haven't been able to find these Digimon you've told me about, but I did survey some of their handiwork. There was a destroyed shopping mall garage, and it reminds me of things I saw when I was a kid. With a little bit of time, I can repair my D-Power and track them down quickly."

Gethen flinched for the barest second, and Henry barely saw it even though he was looking for it. So, that basically confirmed his fears that Tasuke and May were the Digimon's partners; Gethen would not have seemed so worried about Henry finding the Tamers if they were strangers to Henry. Then the quiet anxiety vanished, replaced with a confused look. "Hm, the Digimon..? Ah! You must mean the Dorumon and BlackGuilmon!" Gethen said, tapping his forehead as if trying to hammer that idea into his head. "I forgot that I asked you to look for them. I've been busy, I apologize."

"You... forgot?" Henry asked dryly. He shook his head. "That doesn't sound like you."

Gethen stopped tapping his forehead and glared over at Henry. "As I said, I have been busy, Henry," he growled. He held his hand up and placed his index finger on each of his fingers one after another as he listed things he had been doing. "I have to secure more funding for D-CARD in the face of this year's election season, direct agents across four continents and dozens of nations, monitor our nurseries, track a traitor who has already killed one of our other agents, have meetings with R&D that I barely understand, and approve the new training regimen for incoming agents. I'm sorry if a request I made almost two months ago slipped my mind, Wong. Not all of us can live the calm life of a suburban _step-father_."

Henry narrowed his eyes but didn't retort. "So where are they, then? If you don't mind me asking."

Gethen glared at Henry for a moment, then leaned back and took a calming breath. "Well, I suppose there is no harm in that, Henry," he said, the edge gone from his voice now. He tapped his desk with one finger. "I had them brought here for training. I even forced the bio-emergence of a Myotismon to track their growth. So far they show promise, if little else. Their handler had to destroy the Myotismon, but they held their own for an impressive time."

Myotismon? If Henry remembered anything from the original shows, it was that Myotismon was one of the more dangerous Ultimate Digimon out there. And... given that Henry was certain Tasuke and May were the Tamers he had been told to find, he was willing to bet that the kernel of truth in that lie was Myotismon's appearance. He was torn between pride in his ward and niece for their small victory and terror that Gethen would subject them to a fight that dangerous. Thankfully, the warring emotions helped him to keep his face straight, lending the appearance that he believed the lie. "Well, I suppose that would be good news," he agreed coolly. He sighed and looked over at his computer tower. "I came up with a few ideas after you told me about the BlackGuilmon's massacre. This should make it easier to capture newly hatched Digimon in the nursery and prevent a tragedy like that one from happening again." He pulled the program up and sent it through his secure e-mail to Gethen. "I hope that this can be helpful for your team in the future and prevent any senseless Digimon deaths."

Gethen raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Thank you, Henry. I'll send it over to R&D and they'll work on implementing it with our current infrastructure," he said, impressed. "I doubt there will be problems, though. Other than some of the Monster Makers themselves, no one is better at this than you."

"Well, Digimon do seem to be an inherited trait sometimes. Maybe the show was right: children who engage with Digimon are destined to engage with them again," Henry said simply. He turned his gaze towards his D-Power. "I hope that's the case, so I can get Tasuke's parents back with their Digimon."

"If anyone can figure out how to do it, Henry, it's you," Gethen said. He glanced down at his watch. "Ah, it seems I'm running late for a meeting. If I have to speak with you, I'll contact you through usual means. Have a nice day, Henry." The screen blinked out, leaving Henry alone.

"I hate that lying bastard," he growled to himself before looking towards his program, which contained a very well hidden trojan that would send him information bit by bit. A federal crime that could get him killed, but that was only if he was found out. And he wouldn't be. No one who worked for D-CARD was as good at Digital Field Programming as he was, just like Gethen had said. Maybe he wouldn't even need to confiscate Tasuke's Digivice again to get the information he wanted. Either way, one step closer to getting Takato, Rika, and all their Digimon back. Henry grinned and moved up the stairs, preparing to make himself a celebratory drink. He deserved one, after all.

 **X X X**

I sprinted through the parking lot, already a solid ten minutes late to school. I – okay, this time it was my fault. I overslept because I was so tired after we watched our sugar rush-afflicted Digimon all night. "Crap, crap, crap!" I growled as I tore through the doors and nearly drifted around the corner on my rush to my locker. I nearly ran into someone in my charge but managed to avoid them by an inch. "Crap, crap, crappity, crap!" I ripped my locker open and stuffed some things in while pulling others out. "Crap!" I slammed the locker shut and checked my phone. Make that _fifteen_ minutes late. "Crap!" I rushed away, barreling through the door to my programming class.

I looked around nervously when I burst through the doorway, nearly falling on my face and crashing into the computers on the desks. "Where's... Mr. Keane?" I asked over the chuckles of my classmates. I made my way over to my spot near May. Davis was gone; some kind of religious thing. "Uh... what's going on? He's never fifteen minutes late."

"No one's told us anything," May explained with a shrug. "Everyone's already started the 'five more minutes and we can legally leave' thing. I'm starting to wonder if it's true."

"There's no way that I'm _that_ lucky," I pointed out while sliding into my seat. "No, I'm sure that hardass, angry old man is going to walk through those doors any second and yell at me for being late. Even though he doesn't know I'm late!"

"Yeah, because nobody would tell him," May remarked dryly.

Begrudgingly, I had to admit she was right. Every class had a teacher's pet that would do it. On the other hand, Davis wasn't here right now. Ha! Got him! "Still, I have a chance to get away with it this time," I pointed out, mustering all my hope when I said that. "At least hope it could work out, May."

She rolled her eyes, exasperatedly agreeing, "KayKay. I'll hope you get away with being stupid. But only because we're basically family, Taj."

"And aren't you the nicest family a guy could ask for," I retorted.

After another minute or two, I turned to look over at the empty desk. "Seriously, though, where the heck is he?" I turned to look at her. "Do you think he's okay?"

And that was when the door finally opened, and someone who looked vaguely familiar walked in. It was a woman, with short red hair dressed in business casual slacks and blouse. My mind flashed back five minutes and I froze. I'd nearly run into her when running to get to class. I slowly turned away, trying not to attract the attention of what was obviously our substitute teacher. "Taj? What's wrong?" May asked from beside me. She poked my shoulder when I didn't reply. "Taj?"

"Hello, I'm going to be your substitute," the woman announced, drawing everyone's attention to her. "I'm Ms. Jennings. Your regular teacher, Mister... um..." She glanced down to check a packet of notes she was holding. "Keane. He contracted very serious food poisoning and is going to be out sick for at least the next month. If you wish to send gifts, the administration has information on how to do so in the front office. He also left teaching notes on what you were supposed to do, so... sorry, we're not watching videos in class."

I slid down in my chair. Great. An authority substitute. That could only mean – "And you." I groaned and slowly turned around to see her pointing at me. "I saw you coming in late." I grimaced, ready to accept my fate. Detention. _Again_. But she smiled, and my blood ran even colder. "But I'm not going to punish you." Oh. Oh, this was bad. I could already tell. "Instead, everyone is going to do two activities today." The eyes of everyone in the room the normal side of May's computer brain snapped to me, glaring daggers. Yep. Bad. "Congratulations Mister..." she checked the packet again for the seating chart. "Tasuke Joryawa. You obviously have a devotion to learning."

"Now," she said, addressing the entire class. "Here's what you're going to do..."

I let my head fall to the desk. "Great. Just great," I groaned while May laughed at me. After all, two or one, she'd be done in ten minutes, if not less.

 **X X X**

When May got into her car, she was immediately assaulted by the tiny purple Digimon that had come with her. "May!" Dorimon shouted in excitement, nuzzling into her partner's lap. "How was your day?"

"Same old," May replied. She chuckled. "You'll never guess who was late."

"Dummy?" Dorimon supplied before laughing with May. "I'm more surprised when he isn't late!"

"Like I said. Same old," May joked. She put her partner in the passenger seat and started to pull out of the spot.

"I smelled a Digimon today."

The truck jerked and May turned to her partner. "You what?"

"Yeah. A new Digimon. It wasn't Huckmon, he wasn't here today," Dorimon explained absently. She plopped down in her seat. "It wasn't very big." She got pouty. "I think it's like me."

"In-Training..?" May wondered quietly. She shook her head when a car began honking its horn at her for being half in a spot and blocking the path. She sighed and finished pulling the car out before pulling out her Digivice and texting Davis and Taj.

"Guys, there was an In-Training Digimon at school today. I think we're being hunted again, because only a Tamer or Digidestined would have one of those. Let's meet, _now_ , at the warehouse."

"You think it's an enemy Digimon?" Dorimon asked her partner. She set her brow and got into a pouncing stance in the passenger seat. "Don't worry. Once I get big and Digivolve to Dorugamon, I'll take them down no problem!"

"I know you will," May replied. Her face fell. "Unless it's that Chiros guy again."

"Oh... Well, maybe I'll Digivolve again!" Dorimon pointed out. She grinned wide. "Just imagine BlackJerkmon's face when I reach Ultimate before he even gets to Champion. He won't be able to handle the embarrassment!"

May couldn't help but laugh at that image. "Ha! I could get behind that, Dory. Anything that takes the Troll down a peg is good by me." Her laughter died down quickly. "But we should still come up with a plan. Ugh! Why does being a spy have to be so stressful!?"

 **X X X**

 _Well, I can definitely vouch for the whole idea that people don't want to believe in Digimon thing. After all, Takato basically used the same, bad costume excuse for Guilmon and never got any questions from anybody. Still, it doesn't work as well as my favorite excuse: stuffed animal. That let me take Terriermon anywhere... and leave him with Suzie when he was being annoying. He deserved the Princess Pretty Pants treatment, sometimes._

 _Good to see that Tasuke and May can handle themselves and their partners, even if they aren't as strong as they need to be yet. Fighting an Ultimate Digimon when you can't Digivolve to Ultimate is not fun. And doing it when your Digimon is a Rookie? Tasuke's just lucky that any kind of Guilmon has a skull thicker than rocks. And with Davis and Huckmon around, they should be safe. At least, I'd say that if it weren't for the fact he's working for the guy putting them in danger. Forcing a Myotismon to Bio-Emerge in a neighborhood full of kids? This guy makes Yamaki on his worst day look like a saint!_

 _Anyways, I hope they can deal with this Tamer hunting them at school quickly, and without fighting there. Digimon fights can cause a lot of collateral damage, and in a place full of people that's bad news._

 _Hope we see more on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters._


	17. Stolen Digivice:Grounded Again?

**AN: Hey guys! I hope you've had a good couple weeks. I know it's a bit earlier than I said it would be, but it turns out that the first three weeks of my job are training in a hotel with not a lot to do after work. So I was able to crank out the second half of this.**

 **So, the new Digimon shows. I'm excited for the next Digimon: Adventure sequel, even though I haven't had a chance to watch the Adventure Tri movies yet. That said, I'm not really excited for the Adventure Reboot series. I love the original crew as much as anybody, but I don't think every series needs to be about them, especially not a reboot. It seems like an odd choice after finishing up a series of sequel movies to go back and change things, and if they aren't careful it could be... a problem. But, hey, I'm just waiting for a Tamers sequel because it's my favorite Digimon Series, so maybe I'm a bit biased.**

 **Anyways, responses.**

 **To smartalec121: BG does have his own unique idea of honor, I suppose. But it makes sense that Beelzemon would Load any Digimon that died, right? He is the Sin of Gluttony. But no, it's not really a hard rule. BlackGuilmon's like two months old, so he's just figuring it all out as he goes. He wants rewards for his victories not from someone else's. He just happens to view scaring kids into dropping candy as his own victory. Because he's a mean, fire breathing toddler. We will see more about Jen as the chapters go on. And, of course I mis-spelled Yamaki as Tamaki. I have no idea why, but I have had to correct Tamaki to Yamaki in my head every time I write his name, so I was bound to mess it up eventually. Thanks for pointing it out. It's going to happen again eventually, sadly.**

 _ **Episode 17: Stolen Digivice: Grounded Again!?**_

Jennifer sighed happily as she moved through the door to her apartment, tossing her jacket to the side before placing her bag on the kitchen table. "You are finally home."

Jennifer turned, pulling a gun out from the bottom of the table and pointing it at the intruder. Chiros and Koromon sat on her bed, unflinching in the face of danger. "What the hell?" Jen asked, exasperated. "Did you break in just to freak me out?"

"I didn't want to be seen and connect you to me. The front door would have certain... implications," he explained with a shrug.

Cadetmon poked his head out of Jen's bag. "Sadly, he's right."

Jen glared at him. "You couldn't have warned me?" she growled accusingly at her partner. "You knew a Digimon was in here!"

He smirked at her. "And that's why I knew you weren't in trouble. I've been close enough to Koromon for long enough to know his scent from other Digimon."

Jen narrowed her eyes, but put her gun back into safety and placed it back in its hiding place. "Well, what do you want?" she asked Chiros after a moment. "You obviously broke in to talk."

Koromon piped up, "So, did you learn anything?"

Jen sighed and sat down on a chair. "I was actually about to ask that myself. We haven't had a chance to talk yet," she remarked. She turned to Cadetmon, who had just struggled out of her bag and was pushing himself up on his stubby legs atop the table. "So, what's the news?"

He glanced around for a moment. "Well, there was _a_ Digimon there. But when I tracked its smell that morning, it was coming from that girl's car." He hopped over to the edge and pointed at Chiros and Koromon who were walking in from the other room. "So it's probably the Dorumon you mentioned. What about you, Jen?"

She shook her head. "I didn't get anything definitive from the kids, but I did see something in the class list," she said, putting her chin in her hand. "I recognized one of the names, and I think it's a problem. Davis Estevez."

The air in the room got very cold. "You're sure?" Cadetmon asked. Jen nodded and he rubbed his temples. "That's not good."

"Agent Estevez is a child?" Chiros asked in disbelief. "But his confirmed human kills alone number in the dozens!"

"Yeah. He is," Jen confirmed quietly. She shook her head at the idea that a child would be called upon to do anything like that, surprised despite what she knew about Gethen. It didn't sound like something someone would do, not here at least. It still took most of her words away. "Which is... terrible."

Cadetmon shook his head. "And if Gethen gets his way, the kid with the Hazard Digimon will be even worse, so we have to focus on that for now," he interjected carefully. He hobbled over and tapped Jen's arm, comforting her for a moment. "And we'll keep our heads down and take this slow. We can't risk Agent Estevez finding us. He has the tactical and strength superiority. For now, we just need to make sure we can bug and track down Joryawa without Estevez or Anderson around to catch us."

There was a moment of silence before Jen snapped her fingers. "Detention. Joryawa was fifteen minutes late this morning, and I get the feeling that's normal for him," she explained. She nodded. "I'm sure I'll have the chance to give him detention soon. Maybe even tomorrow."

"Not bad. But we'll start next week. Continue as normal for now," Cadetmon said. He looked over and pointed at Chiros. "Once we do start, Koromon and I will stay here every school day until you get a chance to place the tracker and follow him. A Digimon will just make it more likely you get smelled when you put the tracker on his car and follow where it goes. Jen, when he's in detention, you can get his phone. Confirm it's a 3D and, if it is, place a bug in it. Chiros, can you get a bug or a tracker?"

"I should have extra in my kit," Chiros responded. "And I can make a basic one pretty easily if not. Trackers are easy. But bugging a 3D is... difficult."

"Basic training included some info. I can use my 3D to clone his signal, but it might take some time," Jen supplied, drawing a surprised look from Cadetmon. "What? It was human training, and you were still in a cell at that point, _Wild One_."

"Well then, it seems we have our plan," Koromon pointed out.

Caedetmon nodded, a sad and solemn look on his face. "We all have our part in the plan. You should leave to prepare, then return when the time comes to enact the plan."

"Yes, Sir," Jen said before patting the top of his head.

 **X X X**

"Sorry! Sorry!" I shouted while barreling through the entrance to our base, panting and sliding to a stop. "Sorry! The new sub gave me a detention after I was late!"

"It was the fourth time you've been late in the last four days, you know," May pointed out, arms crossed while she glared at me. "Because of you, Davis made me do card analysis for fights!"

"It's important," Davis told her, annoyed. "Your Alphamon decision was good, but you only used a Digivolution card against Myotismon. Most people fall into the trap of thinking a Digimon doesn't need as much help just because they can Digivolve once. Most people lose their partners."

The room suddenly felt _really_ cold. I glanced over at May and saw her staring at the ground, the words having hit her harder than me. She had warned me to stay out of fighting Digimon out of fear of how it would end. Us, fighting until we and our Digimon died at the hands of government agents. I guess that fear never went away. Dorumon walked over and nuzzled May's side. "We're both still learning, but we'll be the best ever soon!" she told May supportively. "Pretty soon, we won't even need Davis' and Huckmon's help!"

May smiled down at her partner and hugged her back. "Yeah, you're right."

Davis turned from them and glared at me. "I shouldn't be surprised you're so late, should I?"

I sighed and shrugged. No, no he should not be. "Where's BlackGuilmon?" I asked instead.

"Bored," BlackGuilmon said. He stomped out of the training room. "It does not matter that you finally got here. Without Digivolving, we can't do anything here."

I threw my arms up and snapped, "You're saying that like it's my fault!" May and Davis glanced anxiously at one another, then said something about having a few minutes before we were all going off to train May and Dorugamon in using their new Digivolution. They moved to the side and watched nervously, wishing it would stop. Makes all of us.

"It _is!"_ he snapped at me.

I scoffed. " _What!?"_ I shook my head and walked past him into the break room, ignoring the growling that was following. I turned on the TV to ignore him more, but he plopped himself down in front of it. The others were glancing around the doorway at us, watching the implosion. "Move, _BlackJerkmon_!"

"Admit you are the reason I cannot Digivolve!" he growled. His feet tightened and his claws dug into the ground.

I surged to my feet and got up in his face. "What kind of crap is that?" I growled back, putting a finger between his eyes and shoving him backwards. He didn't budge, but he did grow more pissed. "I've been bending over backwards to up our merge rate, while you've been pouting, growling, and moaning like a freshly hatched Digi-egg every time I ask you for help, _BG!_ " I stopped and put a hand on my chin. "Actually, if it's anyone's fault, it's yours! You don't do anything to help!"

"I Load every Digimon we defeat. I'm doing everything I need to do to Digivolve. So the problem has to be on your side," he said calmly. He chuckled and growled at me. "It's like you don't even want to save your stupid, weak, _human_ parents."

I glared down at him and felt my fists quaking at my side. I wanted to hurt him for that, for suggesting I didn't even care about my parents. "... I'm helping you Load living, _thinking_ beings," I told him quietly. "Huckmon and Dorumon didn't need to Load Digimon. So maybe you're too weak to do it."

Unlike me, he was not able to hold in his rage. He spun around before I could respond, slamming his tail into my gut. I grunted and flew back, slamming hard into the couch. He growled at me, smoke rising from his nostrils. I thought he might light me on fire. But he turned and walked out, leaving me alone. I glared at him before pulling up my shirt and grimacing. Already, a large bruise was blossoming on my gut. "Ow..." I muttered while gingerly touching the bruise. I dropped my shirt and pulled out my 3D. A quick check of our merge rate had my heart hitting my bruised stomach and that hurt even more. A whopping ten percent. "One step forward... fifteen back."

I snarled at the Digivice and threw it into the couch. "Dammit!" I buried my face in my hands and groaned. We'd been so close to Digivolving, our merge rate nearing thirty. And now that jerky little... _troll_ was ruining everything. I turned and glared at the others at the door. May and Dorumon vanished, and Huckmon glanced up at Davis. After a moment, he left Davis alone.

"It will come when it needs to, Taj," he said from the doorway. He moved quietly in and sat down beside me. "But that's as close as Digivolution gets to the TV shows. It took Huckmon and me a year to get to Champion." He turned towards the droning TV. "In fact, he and I fought a lot like that. I wanted to be all business back then, and it hurt our relationship."

"Back then?" I remarked. "So this is you acting like work isn't everything?"

He laughed, shaking his head, and leaned forward. "Huckmon and me eventually came to... an understanding. And it got better." He leaned back. "But first... we had to almost die. An assassin threatened my mom, and we nearly lost everything. Huckmon almost died saving her, and when I jumped in to protect him... it just happened. Or when May and Dorumon were fighting Agent Chiros. May risked her life and was willing to fight to save Dorumon and their bond evolved so she could Digivolve. If you keep trying, it'll happen when it needs to happen."

"It needs to happen now," I told him angrily. I glared down at the Digivice laying on the couch. "I need to get to the Digital World to save my parents, so why won't it work?"

Davis shook his head. "You're making progress, Taj. And one fight isn't the end of the world."

"Does he need to Load Digimon?"

Davis grew quiet. "I've heard that the Wild Ones say that's how it works. It doesn't work that way for Huckmon or Dorumon. But I fought a Tamer from China once who claimed that's how it worked for her and her partner. And since she was Ultimate when she tried to kill me, I'm inclined to believe her."

"What happened to her?"

"Just be patient, Tasuke," he told me instead, standing up. He looked over to the doorway. "We'll head out in a few minutes. BlackGuilmon can stay here and cool down, but you should come. Try to get a good idea of what Champions fighting is like."

"... Yeah, I guess we should go." I pocketed my Digivice and stood up after him. "And Davis, thanks. If it took you a year, I think I can manage before then."

He rolled his eyes. "No wonder May managed before you. You're delusional."

"He's not wrong," Dorumon pointed out, peeking around the corner. "Dummy."

"Okay, okay, enough ragging on him," Davis said while I glowered at Dorumon and her laughing partner. "He's got enough problems with that bright orange hair with blue tips. Seriously, Taj, you look like a goth rock star trying to appeal to basic teenage girls."

"Ouch," I remarked. I ran a hand through my hair. "Okay, okay. Haircut it is."

 **X X X**

I got home hours later, bored from watching Dorugamon get beat around by BaoHuckmon. While Dorugamon may have some instinctual bond to her new form given she downloaded the data to operate in her new shape, May had no idea how to optimize her support for the larger Digimon. She was having trouble, but at least she and Dorugamon could last longer than ten seconds at the end. And, hey, Davis had been doing this for years. And he could go Ultimate. And unlike BG and me, they both had a good relationship with their Digimon. Stupid BlackJerkmon.

I pulled out my Digivice and sighed. They'd definitely called him about me having detention. Nothing new, but he'd been getting harder on me for it. He'd taken the Digivice when I hadn't told him about detention, so maybe he'd let me keep it since I told him this time. Even if I was already three detentions and twelve tardies in to the school year after only a month and a half. Usually it had to be twice that bad for him to punish me. Suzie had told him we weren't involved in Digimon, which meant we were safe from him finding out even if he did have my Digivice. But I could already tell that Davis and May would make fun of me if it got taken away again. And BlackJerkmon... if I thought he was complaining that the others could Digivolve now, I can't imagine what it would be like if I couldn't even use cards on him.

I shoved the Digivice back into my pocket and unlocked the door to walk in. "Henry, I'm home!" I shouted. I grinned and crouched to pet Momentai after I closed the door, laughing at the dog's assault of kisses all over my face. He snorted happily and charged away after a minute, spinning over to the basement door and yipping loudly.

Henry came out a moment later. "Tasuke," he said disapprovingly. "You got detention again."

I chuckled anxiously. "I, uh, yeah." Not admitting it would be worse. "You know I'm trying not be late! But this substitute is... she's mean! She makes everyone do more work when I'm late, and now she's giving me detention, too! That's not fair!"

"She's your teacher, it sounds fair to me," Henry explained as he leaned against the bar between the living room and kitchen. He crossed his arms and nodded at me. "Tasuke, you need to try harder. You're better than this."

"I'm trying, Henry," I muttered defensively, moving past him and dropping my backpack on the couch. "I was only five minutes late this time!"

"But you got detention _again_. Tasuke, I wouldn't be doing this right if I didn't punish you somehow," he told me earnestly. "Give me your phone. You can borrow May's if you need to call me."

I stared at him blankly, jaw dropped and ears ringing. He was really doing it. He was taking my phone again – my _Digivice_. If he knew what he was doing, he wouldn't – or would he take it forever? "Henry... come on. I'm trying."

"Tasuke, your phone. You can have it back tomorrow if you're on time to school."

I shook my head. "So I'll never get it back," I remarked. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Digivice. Better to give in than have him wonder if the phone meant too much to me. Who knows what kinds of conclusions he would jump to then? "Am I?"

"That's up to you, Tasuke," he told me. He grabbed the Digivice when I placed it in his hand, then pulled it away. "Go on and do your homework while I get dinner ready. Maybe set your alarm clock for early so you have enough time to get to school."

"I've already done my homework. And May, Davis, and me already got food," I growled tiredly. I picked up my backpack and shouldered it with an annoyed grunt. Stupid. "Whatever. Night, Henry. See you tomorrow."

Henry sighed and watched me go up the stairs. "Late like your father, grumpy like your mom. What a combination."

I huffed at that and shoved into my room. "Grumpy? I'm not grumpy, you... jerk," I grumbled before plopping down on my bed.

After a few minutes of growling at myself, I pulled out my pencil bag and began assembling the Mark 3 of my automatic crossbow. So far, it was looking like it was going better. I finished putting together what I had, noting that the pieces all fit together better than any of the other so far. The rectangular pieces also made them look like various rulers and straight edges for drawing and math. And with the new method of loading the thing, based on the top-down magazine of the P90, which helped with some of the problems I'd had, it looked like it would end up being either the finalized design or the second to last. I wonder I I could get, like, a bonus or a raise from Gethen for supplying the design. With how many Digidestined lives it could save, I definitely _deserved_ one.

I examined the thing for a few more minutes, then pulled it apart so I wouldn't forget in the morning and screw everything up by having Henry or a teacher find it. I put it in my backpack and laid back on the bed so I could glare at the ceiling. "Maybe this will make everyone but BlackGuilmon a little less annoyed with me," I muttered before closing my eyes. I was halfway asleep when I shot up in my bed. "Crap! Forgot to set my alarm!"

 **X X X**

It was nearing midnight when Adrian Chiros finally decided that he was in the clear. Nobody had been to the warehouse in at least six hours, meaning that nobody else was going to come along and catch him. He had hours before anyone would roll around to check on whatever Digimon was in there. And given they either had to always eat or always sleep, he felt assured that he could avoid waking the Digimon if it was there. Few Digimon could even smell a human when awake.

Chiros pulled on a black balaclava, then checked his black turtleneck, pants, boots, gloves, pocket, night vision goggles, and gun. Everything was in place, and everything was hidden. He opened the door of his car and crept out, his feet barely making any noise against the asphalt. He shut the door and glanced in both directions. He'd be nearly invisible against the street at night in his getup, and it wouldn't do to get hit by a car just when he needed to be safe the most. Satisfied he was in the clear, Adrian sprinted across the street and into the warehouse's parking lot. He moved over to the entrance and crouched down, pulling out a lockpick. After a few moments of careful movements, the door clicked quietly and he pushed it open. " _Io!_ " he whispered to himself, feeling triumphant for a moment. Then he carefully moved through and pulled his goggles down.

The room he entered was empty, and the goggles gave it an eerie green static that made it feel alive. He moved in and began to creep around the building, traveling through the main, empty room. There were doors on either side that led further in. He frowned and glanced at both of them, then shrugged and turned to the left. He slowly pushed it open and found himself in what looked to be a recreation room. A couch, a chair, a table, a television, a refrigerator, and a portable pantry. He moved over to the table and picked up a magazine sitting on top of it. It was a tech magazine, the cover mentioning something about quantum computing. Chiros wasn't sure what to make of that, but he assumed it belonged to Mayumi. His investigations of her implied she took after her parents and grandfather in this regard. He carefully put it down andd moved towards the couch, noticing a video game controller there. He reached for it, then stopped and grabbed the television remote. Wouldn't do to have the TV blare when he turned it on.

When the TV was muted, he turned on the system and waited for it to boot up. After a few moments of logos, the account names finally appeared. Mayumi Anderson. Davis Estevez.

 _Tasuke Joryawa_. It didn't prove anything, but it did show that he was here often enough to log in on the system. And the lack of a fourth account implied that it was only the three of them. Three Digidestined, capable of opening the walls between the Real and Digital Worlds. It was too much evidence to overlook, but he wanted to be sure. He would find the Digimon.

He turned off the system and hit the mute button again before turning off the TV. Everything had to be exactly as he left it so they wouldn't suspect someone had been there. He left the room as quietly as he could, and went for the other door. He carefully pushed it open, and was immediately greeted by the noise of snoring. Then, the snoring grew more and more angry. "I can smell you."

His eyes widened and he tore off the goggles, diving to the side just as a bright green flame exploded where he had been. The door flew past him, torn from its hinges, and hit the opposite wall with a loud clang. "There goes this being a stealth mission," he grumbled under his breath. He pressed a button on his shoulder, and the light that was there began to glow, revealing a monster moving out of the smoke. A dinosaur looking Digimon. Black with some red highlights. And a huge black Digital Hazard at the center of his white chest. His eyes were an angry gold. Reptilian pupils. "BlackGuilmon, I take it?"

"You're human... but you're breaking in. I doubt Tasuke will complain if I kill you," the Digimon responded instead. His upper lip curled up in a predatory grin, revealing teeth capable of shredding Digimon. So they could probably do far worse to a human. The Digimon snarled and took a half step forward. "Good. I'm hungry!"

Chiros pulled out his digitally enhanced pistol and fired at the charging Digimon. The bullet slammed into his shoulder and BlackGUilmon roared in pain, stumbling and rolling across the ground. "What the hell was that!?" he growled. Chiros responded by aiming his gun again; maybe he could finish this now. BlackGuilmon snarled and threw himself to the side, narrowly avoiding the shot. He charged in, zigzagging to avoid the careful shots, and slammed his tail into Chiros' legs. Chiros yelped and flipped. He angled his body to minimize the hit and keep his head safe, then rolled to the side to avoid a glowing claw slamming into the ground where his head had been a moment earlier.

The agent rolled to his feet and grimaced, holding his side. He was bruised from hitting the concrete and this was just going to get worse. He glanced towards the door, now placed firmly behind BlackGuilmon. He had... maybe two shots left. Not good enough. But the Digimon was favoring his left side. He must never have been hit by one before. Chiros blinked once... then aimed up quickly. The Digimon snarled and dodged to his right, keeping his wounded side between him and Chiros, but Chiros suddenly began sprinting away. He turned as BlackGuilmon snarled and realized he had been tricked, stopping for the briefest moment to try and follow. Chiros half aimed his gun and fired; BlackGuilmon howled in rage and pain as blood flew out from his left leg, spraying across the ground. But he kept running, albeit at a limp. Chiros fired once more and BlackGuilmon dodged again, but his injured leg finally gave out. He howled as Chiros sprinted out and away. "COME BACK HERE AND DIE, PREY!"

Chiros shook his head, horrified. If this was how the creature behaved without the influence of Gethen's partners like Reapmon, then he didn't want to imagine how BlackGuilmon would behave when Gethen's plans finally came to fruition. It had to die, or... the child had to die. Chiros yanked his car open and drove away. At least he had confirmed the child was a Digidestined. But now they would be on high alert. What kind of Digimon could smell a human while asleep?

 **X X X**

Henry was silent that night as he stayed awake in the basement. Tasuke had gone off to sleep, buying his hastily constructed excuse that got Henry the new Digivice. That had been hours ago, which meant Henry was probably safe to do what he had to do now. He placed Tasuke's phone on a small stand next to the one holding his own D-Power, the case removed so he could connect it to a chord, itself plugged into a group port. The other end was plugged into the nearby computer, with all data meant to flow into the computer. The third side of the port was empty, but it wouldn't be for long. He pulled out the necessary cord for the phone from a drawer filled with different ones, then plugged it in to the phone on one end and the port on the other. After a moment, he booted up the D-Power and let the computer start logging the information so he could go through it again later. After another few moments, he started up the phone and its data began to stream through.

"Let's see what you have in there before we examine the interplay with the D-Power," he muttered to the phone. He turned to his computer and watched the new window open. A simple black terminal, until a crimson line appeared at the center. "That shouldn't -" And then an old, familiar image appeared. The Digital Hazard, created from a series of red ones and zeroes. Then they vanished and were replaced by a small menu. He accessed the first, but it was just a confusing jumble of Digicode other than a title: BlackGuilmon. Henry sighed and moved back to the Digivice's previous base menu to access the next.

Key. There was a massive stream of data this time. Not just Digicode, but also the programming language his father had used in the original project, and even some English and Japanese. It was incredibly confusing to look at, but he was sure he would be able to read it all given enough time. He studied it for a few more moments and frowned. He hadn't noticed it at first, but there were empty sections. More than three quarters of it was missing. He had assumed it was just the ends of files at first, but from what he could translate off the top of his head he eventually realized what it was. Some seemed to be... covered or hidden, inaccessible but clearly there. But most of it was completely gone, as if it was part of a file spread out among a variety of hard drives. He exited the Key file and returned to the main menu.

He wondered, for a moment, how much of this information Gethen already knew. And how long it took his technicians to figure it out. He was willing to bet that he had figured it out faster. He had more practice and experience with Digicode and the programming base of the Digimon than anyone else, even his father's team at this point.

He stared at the program's code for a while, a growing feeling of familiarity spreading throughout his mind. He frowned. "It almost looks like..." His eyes widened and his mind flew back in time.

He was a decade and a half younger, sitting at the bar owned by Jeri's family with his best friends in the world, human and Digimon. But it wasn't a happy time. They were anxious and scared. Takato and Rika were marshalling the troops, each in their own... unique ways. They seemed almost fearless now that Tasuke was in America with Henry's father. Safe. Henry himself was almost done with his part in the plan's preparation. Using some of his father's and Shibumi's old gear, he was programming a Green Card. His card. One that would let their Digivices lock the Digital World away, safe from HYPNOS' new leadership and the people like them who wanted to use the Digimon and their human partners as weapons. "I'm done," he said quietly after a while of listening tot he others quietly reminisce. He glanced up at the others. "But you aren't going to like it."

"If we work together, it can't be that bad," Takato pointed out naively, but with so much confidence in his usually unconfident voice that even Rika smiled and believed him. Most people couldn't help but agree with him when he sounded like that.

Kazu grinned from behind his drink and motioned his head at Takato and Rika. "Chumley's right. We can figure it out."

Henry looked at the Green Card and shook his head. "Not this time. To work, the program needs to seal the breach on both sides at the same time," he explained. He glanced around at everyone. "Three humans are going to be stuck in the Digital World _forever_."

Henry shook himself out of his past, putting it behind him once more. "A program built to reverse the Green Card," he whispered after a moment. He knew that the Digital World had a sense of what it wanted that eluded causal thought sometimes, but why would this program be fragmented like this, and with some kind of obvious restriction on the information that was already there? He pondered on it for a moment before releasing the question from his mind. He didn't know right then, and it was just getting in the way. He was sure that, as time went on, Tasuke would unlock more of the program, somehow. He'd have to find a way to ground him again so he could check the data every so often.

"Well, I suppose we should check what you do to my D-Power," he told Tasuke's Digivice. He flipped a tiny switch on the port, and the data stream changed, downloading information from the phone-Digivice into the D-Power.

What happened was immediate. The holographic screen of the D-Power appeared in a bright flash, the compass spinning wildly as if unable to locate the creature it was searching for. The spinning continued as Hnery leaned in closer, completely floored by the sudden change in the Digivice's behavior. He reached out to his Digivice and slowly grabbed it.

The moment his fingers brushed against the D-Power's frame, the compass stopped spinning and vanished completely. Henry frowned and felt his heart drop. What had gone wrong? He – There was a beep from the other Digivice, and Henry turned to it with a manic jump. The screen displayed a small table of information that made Henry smile wider than he had in years. Name: Terriermon. Status: Alive. Location: Digital World. Just three simple pieces of information, but it gave him an answer to a question he had been too terrified to ask for more than a decade. _Is Terriermon alive?_ And now Henry knew, without a doubt, that he was. A single nagging thought wouldn't let him celebrate, however. None of this would have been possible without Tasuke getting swept up in the events, but was any of this worth the danger to Tasuke that came with it? Henry couldn't even answer that question.

 **X X X**

 _Yay! It's my turn now! Oh, sorry. It's me! Guilmon! Takato told me to tell you my name, but I forgot. Oops. But now you know my name, so it's my turn now!_

 _Now, what did Takato say I should say..? Oh! Just talk about what I liked and don't like. I don't like Not-Me-Guilmon. He's meaner than Rika was when me and Takato met her, and she was really mean. But she got better, so maybe Not-Me-Guilmon will get better too! Maybe when I meet him, Not-Me-Guilmon will be nice enough that he and me will be able to play! After all, even Renamon will play with me sometimes. I also don't like the people who want to hurt Not-Me-Guilmon. He's friends with Taka – I mean, Tasuke, so he'd be sad if Not-Me-Guilmon got hurt, right?_

 _But I do like that Henry is keeping Taka- I mean Tasuke! – safe. I know that Tasu – I mean Takato! Takato likes that. He always says Henry is... 'cool headed.' I think that means he likes his blue-y hair. I like Henry's blue-y hair, too!_

 _Well, Takato is telling me to say good bye so we can have food! I'll see you soon on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters! Don't let Calumon eat all the Guilmon bread, Takato!_


	18. Mouthy Digimon:Rock and a Hard Place

**AN: Hey everyone! I've finally moved but, yet again, I am in a hotel. Only this time, there's not even any other new hires to hang out with. So I was able to do this pretty fast. I do finally move in to my apartment in a week, so that'll be a lot of fun when it happens. Other than having no furniture, but I'll fix that fast.**

 **Now, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you as soon as I can.**

 _ **Episode 18: Mouthy Digimon:Rock and a Hard Place**_

Koromon knew his partner very well. Adrian was calm and collected, with a devotion to the idea of a Graecian hero. He was honorable, courageous, and devoted. Similarly, however, he was also willing to destroy any he fought that were unwilling to engage in that same kind of honor, to the point of cruelty at times. He was not a 'good' person, in his own eyes. Koromon had seen him help the poor and decapitate an enemy in a single day. But he had never seen him act like this.

Adrian Chiros was afraid, staring out of the room's curtains and glancing around. He looked like he was being careful, but he would have taken a break if that was the case. He crossed his arms and glanced back at his partner and their allies. "You've been checking for an enemy that is not there for a quarter hour, Adrian," Koromon finally spoke up as their eyes met. "Tell us what you found."

Adrian sighed and stepped away from the window. He smelled of soot and adrenaline, and he looked exhausted. "The Digimon belongs to Tasuke," he said, his words shaking. He was scared, too, then. Adrian held his hands up and tried to grasp words in them, failing as he opened his mouth. He turned to the nearby chair and plopped down in it, leaning back and shutting his eyes. After another few moments: "What is it that we all believe is true about Digidestined? Real Digidestined?"

"Kids," Jennifer pointed out. She looked up from her computer, where she was grading coding projects. "At least at the start, if Tasuke's parents are anything to go by."

Cadetmon piped up next. He was standing atop the table, his tiny stubs crossed over his chest. "And they tend to be pure of heart when they become Digidestined as well. Heroic, even. Though even that is not a long term guarantee, as we have seen with Agent Estevez. His past is likely something that would horrify the child who received his Digimon."

"Even that is heroism of its own kind," Koromon explained, drawing a confused look from Jen and Cadetmon. "A hero is someone who struggles to do what they believe is right, yes? Perhaps what he does is for what he believes is 'Good.'" His ears flapped on the last word, a poor attempt at air quotes.

Silence was the response to that philosophical idea. After a few moments, it was broken by Adrian. "And their Digimon?"

"Good. Most of them are like the ones from the shows. A lot of small dragons, now that I think about it," Cadetmon muttered. He shook his head. "Mostly Data and Vaccine, but there are a few Virus. But even those are naive and good to the point of... stupidity."

Koromon supplied, "And they complement their partner. A brash Digidestined who leads others into danger might have a brash Digimon who follows them without a thought. They drive change in one another."

"Digimon and Digidestined always turn up dead." Everyone's eyes turned to Jen, who glanced up and shrugged. "There's a reason nobody has managed to get more than two at a time before now."

"Morbid, but true," Cadetmon finally agreed with his partner. He turned to Adrian. "But what does this have to do with anything?"

"BlackGuilmon isn't anything like other Digimon linked to a Digidestined. He enjoys hunting, be his prey human or Digimon. He is cruel and hungry. Predatory. And all of this without the influence of a Digimon like Reapmon," Adrian explained hollowly. He leaned forward and clasped his hands. "If Digimon and Digidestined have... 'complementary' personalities, then I shudder to think what exists in the heart of the boy. Now that he is an agent he will do terrible things, and I expect doing so will awaken what dark impulses there are. If they haven't already."

"If it was that bad, why are you okay?" Cadetmon inquired quietly.

Chiros shut his eyes. "The eyes of the creature were... shark like. Only prey can be seen by eyes like that. Worse still, he toyed with me when he had the upper hand." He slowly opened his eyes and locked them on Cadetmon and Jen. "I think the boy is a danger as well. One we should deal with."

Jennifer sighed, closing her computer and putting it on the table. "Not unless there's no other choice."

"It is my belief he will become a killer regardless of if we remove BlackGuilmon. We would be saving lives."

"No."

Chiros smirked at her and shook his head. "Protective of your students already, Ms. Jennings?"

She took a half step towards him. "I don't like what you're implying."

Cadetmon could see all of this spiraling out of control and knew he had to do something to stop it. He quickly jumped from the table, landing between them and shouted to get their attention. "None of this matters if we can't destroy BlackGuilmon. We cross that bridge _if_ -" he turned his pointed gaze on the Greek soldier in the chain "- if it comes to it."

Chiros was silent, but he nodded in deference to Cadetmon. Cadetmon turned to Koromon and Jen. "Now, how do we go about that?"

Jen slowly smiled as she looked over at her computer, "You know... I might have an idea about that." She glared down at Adrian. "They know you're alive, right? Then let's use it."

 **X X X**

Things had just started to go insane. We had been worried about the Greek guy showing up for a while now, but I for one had almost thought he'd left with how long it had been since we'd heard from him. And then, out of nowhere, he broke into the warehouse and everything was dangerous again. The next night, Dorimon had reported a Digimon was close to May's house at the middle of the night. We got Davis to install an alarm for our team on all our houses that night. Then someone broke in while she and her family were out. Davis had had the house cleaned as soon as the alarm was tripped, trying to make sure there were no traps left over. Twelve were removed from the house. It got to the point where there was an armed guard at May's house 24/7 just to keep watch for the Graecian. So far they hadn't seen anything, but we all knew it wouldn't do much if he came with his Sagittarimon already Digivolved.

So, in the interest of making sure that May didn't go completely insane, I had managed to drag her, Davis, and all our Digimon out for another excursion. May needed it, and her screaming at our football team for being down by three in the fourth quarter. I was glad she was enjoying herself, but I'm not going to lie and say she was the only reason I planned this field trip. My gaze turned to BlackGuilmon, who had distanced himself from me while he snarled at our team's defense for failing to tackle the opposing quarterback. I hoped that doing this could fix something between us. Hopefully somewhere around ten percent of something, at least. That would get us around where we were before, which would be a good start.

But it wasn't doing anything. He wouldn't apologize, he wouldn't talk... hell, he barely cast a glare in my direction. It felt like we would never make up. But I knew that I wasn't going to just charge after him, acting desperate. And we had bigger things to worry about besides that. "So, what are we going to do?" I asked Davis while May and my Digimon shouted at the field.

Dorimon's ears flicked towards us and she bounded over to listen. "Yeah, G-Man, May's in danger and I can't keep her safe alone!"

Huckmon climbed over Davis' back, his metal body nearly crushing Davis. "Don't worry, Davis already has an answer for that." He climbed all the way over, then plopped down in Davis' lap, causing him to hiss in pain. "Whoops!"

"You did that on purpose!" Davis hissed in retort.

Huckmon blinked innocently. "Never! Not even if you missed running with me this morning!"

Davis glared at him. "You're a brat." He shoved Huckmon off his legs, and the Digimon tumbled through the dirt, tearing out clumps of earth as he went. Davis turned back to Dorimon. "But he's right. I'll be sticking close to her whenever I can. The Director got my mother accepted into a management course so she'll be out at night for the next month or so. I'll be able to watch the house at night, too."

"Alone? I don't even think you could manage a month of sleepless nights," I told him. "Unless... you aren't a government experiment, are you?"

"Ha ha," Davis muttered dryly. "No. I'll set up an RV nearby and sleep in that. The alarms we already have set up will be enough to wake me in time for SaviorHuckmon to get there and handle anything."

"Might as well be dating her, if you're that close," I said dryly, and Davis choked on spit, surprised I would say that. "Hey! Not really, G-Man. My cousin's off limits!"

"You talking about me?" May snapped, stomping morosely towards us. Oh, the team was losing still, apparently.

I rolled my eyes. "Calm down, Superfan, nothing bad."

"He's just saying I'm not allowed to date you," Davis explained, coughing from his near bout with death by his own spit.

May glared at the both of us. "Sure. That's what you were talking about. Not the guy who's trying to kidnap me and take me to Greece."

I shrugged. "I mean, we were talking about that, too," I admitted. I pointed at her. "You're in danger, and we're not letting you get hurt. I don't care about your silly pride, May."

"But now he knows about BlackGuilmon, too! He'll be looking for you just as much as he's looking for me," May reasoned.

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," Huckmon said, drawing weird looks from everyone. "What? It's a saying!"

"Not one I've heard anyone in real life use," Dorimon said dryly, mocking Huckmon with a smirk.

Huckmon scoffed. "You're four months old. What do you know? You're a baby!"

"Hey!" Dorimon shouted indignantly.

May, Davis, and I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Hey!" Dorimon snapped at us now.

"What? You _are_ only four months old," May pointed out. She bent down and picked up her partner in both hands. "But you're my baby!" She snuggled her tight, ignoring Dorimon's pleas for freedom, then turned on her heel when a whistle blew. "GET THEM!"

"HELP ME, DUUU-UUU-UU-MMMM-YYY!" Dorimon shouted when May started waving her Digimon above her head from the left to right.

I chuckled and enjoyed the image of a Digidestined and their partner enjoying each other's company. It almost didn't make me jealous. But it did, as evidence by the fact my laughter cut off when I saw BlackGuilmon glaring at me. Stupid May and Dorimon, making me jealous. Why couldn't I be the one whose Digimon liked him?

" _What!?_ " BlackGuilmon snapped angrily.

"What yourself!" I snapped back, too tired of his garbage attitude to stop myself. He began to growl, the noise starting low and quiet but growing progressively louder.

Davis sighed as our argument began and stood up, moving up beside May. "So, this is how the season ends?" May wondered. She still cared about the game? "An interception for a touchdow -"

She immediately screamed in joy, throwing her hands up and sending a shrieking Dorimon tumbling straight up into the air a good eight feet. Dorimon kept shrieking even when she landed in May's arms again. "FUMBLE! I don't know how but... FUMBLE!"

Davis frowned and crossed his arms. That had been very odd. Almost impossible. He just... dropped the ball with no one around. And now he failed to grab it, with one of our school's players picking it up and running, almost unobstructed, for a touchdown.

"Stop shouting, Hag!" BlackGuilmon growled.

"Hey, shut up, Troll!"

He turned on me. "What did you call me?" he growled. His eyes narrowed dangerously and smoke began to rise from his nostrils. "No, it doesn't matter. You're prey, just like everyone else. Your opinion doesn't matter."

I surged to my feet and glared down at him. "Prey? If you can't treat us right even when you're a Rookie, maybe you shouldn't Digivolve at all!" I snapped before I realized what I was saying.

He breathed heavily, but I could see he was holding it back. His pupils were almost round right now, his lower jaw quivering. He... he looked like he was about to cry. Instead, he said, "Then good luck finding your parents." Then he bolted at full speed, running away.

"Wait! BlackGumilmon, I –" Triumphant music began to play from the football field, a sign that our team had won. I just glared after my partner, growing angrier and angrier. I knew he didn't mean it, not really. He was stupid, and I'd said what I'd said. To him, and his stunted, stupid brain, they were the same thing. Hell, since I needed him to Digivolve they _were_ the same thing. And it was... everything to him. Just like my parents were everything to me. Shit.

The others glanced between one another. "Shit," I groaned. "Shit."

 **X X X**

"Sukamon!" BlackGuilmon growled at himself as he laid in the darkness of his old lair, the park where he had first run after meeting Tasuke. "Sukamon!"

He'd been cursing for an hour now, originally directing them at his idiotic partner and what he had said. Hoping BlackGuilmon would never Digivolve? That was crossing the line! And then BlackGuilmon eventually started thinking something else. Something new and confusing. Something he'd never thought before. _Did I push him to this? Is it kind of my fault I can't Digivolve?_ It sounded insane, yes, but... what if? What if the problem wasn't _only_ Tasuke? And then he started to wonder if him being mean to Tasuke and his friends had caused their relationship to fray?

BlackGuilmon glared into the darkness. "Sukamon," he growled again, conjuring the disgusting, poop shaped Digimon to mind once more. He took a deep breath and spat it out with a huff. "I shouldn't feel bad – I _don't_ feel bad. Feeling bad is what Prey does, and I'm not Prey!"

BlackGuilmon growled at the treacherous thought in his mind that told him he didn't sound very convincing. He shut his eyes and growled louder, scaring a family of bunnies off with the noise he was using to drown his thoughts out. They just started getting louder and more obnoxious, unfortunately. So BlackGuilmon put his front claws over his ears and groaned sadly. "Please stop..."

You hurt Tasuke.

"He hurt me first," BlackGuilmon retorted. "Besides, I don't care about him."

Then why is what he said hurting you?

"I... because!"

Why?

"What? Because!"

So you wouldn't care if he vanished.

"..."

Why not get rid of him and find someone who will make you strong?

"He will!" BlackGuilmon snapped at his own thoughts. "He's my friend, so he'll help me!" The thoughts grew quiet at that, as if they had been waiting for him to say that.

BlackGuilmon looked around, embarrassed. Thankfully, no one had heard him. He laid back down and shivered as a cold wind blew over him. "... Sukamon." It was going to be a long, cold while before Tasuke came and he could say sorry to the human. He never thought he'd miss the warehouse, but at least it was warm.

 **X X X**

"How much further!?" Rika shouted from beside Renamon and Calumon, her husband standing on the massive, cyborg shoulder of his Digivolved partner, WarGrowlmon.

Takato leaned forward, clutching his partner carefully, and made a visor with his hand. "What do you think, Boy?" he asked the massive Digimon. "We close?"

"I can smell him right up there, Takato!" the still childlike voice replied. "He'll be so excited when we tell him we heard from Henry!"

"He says -"

"I can hear him from here, Gogglehead," Rika shouted, annoyed he'd repeat something she could obviously hear. She put her hands on her hips and glared up at him. "You didn't draw him quiet, you know."

"I didn't know you could draw something loud, Takato," WarGrowlmon muttered as he brought a razor sharp hand up to his chin. "How did you do that?"

Takato sighed and shook his head. "I don't think that's what she meant, Boy."

WarGrowlmon nodded and brought his hand over to Takato, resting it flat. Takato hopped over and let himself be slowly lowered to the ground, at which point the massive Digimon glowed for a moment and began to shrink back into Guilmon. "Then what did she mean, Takato?"

"So, Terriermon is nearby?" Renamon asked, mercifully cutting in to save Takato from Rika's semi good natured joking on one side and Guilmon's honest confusion on the other. "We were lucky to hear rumors of him."

"It's been so long since we all got separated," Takato said with a sigh. "I hope Ryo is trying to help the others out, too."

"Yeah. Because that sounds like him," Rika remarked dryly. "He loves sticking around."

"... I'm sorry I wasted the message!" Takato repeated for the thousandth time.

Rika just huffed and turned away from him. Yeah, that sounded about right. "Let's just hope it connects to your D-Power next time," he supplied meekly.

"Gogglehead," she sighed, but she turned back to him and nodded at the distance. "Well, let's go get the annoying little – friend."

"That's the spirit, Rika!" Calumon shouted, floating up to her shoulder and laughing excitedly. "Yeah, let's go get our friend!" Takato laughed at Calumon's oblivious joy. Obviously, Calumon hadn't noticed Rika had nearly called Terriermon something far less friendly.

Rika turned her glare back to Takato, though her annoyance wasn't aimed at him this time. "I can go alone if you want. I bet Terriermon won't exactly be... charming after so long."

Rika raised an eyebrow. "You're not in that much trouble, Gogglehead. Besides, I can handle it you know," she pointed out. She gave him a light shove and smirked. "Are you implying I've gone soft?"

Takato, still as oblivious as when they were kids, threw his hands up. "W-wait! No, I -"

"I'm kidding, Gogglehead," Rika laughed, disarming his stuttering. She shook her head and looked off towards the forest within which they believed Terriermon was hiding. "What else did you smell in there, Guilmon?"

"Lots of Digimon."

Takato chuckled. "I think she meant more specifically, Boy."

"Oh... More than five."

"I... guess that's more specific," Takato muttered, amused but unsurprised at his partner's honest reply.

"Renamon." Rika turned to her partner.

"Of course," the fox Digimon replied with a bow of her head. Rika smiled and raised her Digivice, swiping a Digivolution card with practiced ease. Renamon vanished and reappeared in a white glow that slowly disappeared, revealing a car sized, quadruped Kitsune. Kyubimon. Another card was slashed a moment later, a hyper-speed. Takato grimaced. This wasn't going to be fun.

"Hop on," Rika said as she easily climbed up on Kyubimon's back. Takato nodded and turned to his own partner, holding out his Digivice.

"Yay! I get to be small again!" Guilmon shouted as a white light enveloped him and he slowly shrank, turning into a four legged red ball with wing shaped ears and a red tail tipped in black. He had a tiny black triangle under each eye. His voice came out with a lisp now as he excitedly shouted, "I'm Gigimon again!"

"Yay, small friend!" Calumon laughed, rushing over and bouncing around with the now giggling Gigimon.

"Aww..." Takato said. Rika said it on the inside. He thought so, at least. He let them play for a moment, then reached down and picked up both the tiny Digimon before clambering up onto Kyubimon, much less gracefully than his wife had. As soon as he was sitting behind Rika, Kyubimon took off at full speed.

They arrived just a few minutes later, stopping at the edge of the forest in a sudden blur. Rika and the tiny Digimon were grinning widely, excited and laughing from the speed they'd just reached without even a hair out of place. Takato, however, looked unlike them. His hair was everywhere and he looked shell shocked, as one should feel after going so fast. Gigimon and Calumon bounced around on Kyubimon's back chanting, "Again! Again!"

"No!" Takato shouted, drawing a surprised look from everyone, even Kyubimon. "I... ahem... We need to find Terriermon." He grabbed Gigimon and hurried off of Kyubimon. He hit the ground and placed his partner on the ground, getting him to Digivolve back to Guilmon.

"Yay! Normal sized friend!" Calumon shouted, leaping from Kyubimon and landing on Guilmon's head.

"Lead the way, Boy," Takato said as Rika helped her own partner return to Rookie level as well.

"Okay," Guilmon said with a determined nod. He turned towards the forest and lifted his nose, sniffing past his Calumon hat. Then he took off, leaving everyone behind to follow him.

It was a quiet trip through the Digital forest. Between their travels and the legends of who they were – Takato knew Rika loved the stories of the Warrior Priestess and her Crimson Knight even more than he did – most Digimon knew to avoid any humans traveling through their territory. At this point, it was only Digimon who were little more than angry animals or the occasional power hungry Ultimate or Mega that ever tried anything. Or Digimon that they interrupted in the middle of snacking, Takato remembered as they moved through the forest and into the clearing. "Guys, Momentai! I didn't mean to call you smelly, ugly idiots, but that doesn't mean I was wrong!"

Yeah, that was Terriermon, currently held up by his ears by a Gorillamon, flanked by two more of his buddies. Terriermon shrugged with his hands up. "Come on, you really can't be afraid of a little guy like me! Fight me one at a time, huh!"

The Gorillamon glanced at one another, then leaned in close and growled at Terriermon. "Oh... can't blame me for –' he slowly drifted, turning midair until he caught sight of the figures who had just entered the clearing. "Guys! I can't believe you found me! Let's take care of these smelly, ugly idiots and we can go take a nap."

Upon hearing him call them smell, ugly idiots – again – the Gorillamon all screamed and raised their blaster fists towards him.

"Ugh... Renamon," Rika sighed, raising her Digivice and a Blue Card.

"Of course," Renamon said before charging the Gorillamon. There was a bright flash of light as Rika swiped the card, and Renamon vanished, replaced with a tall fox dressed in white robes and purple hakama, a black priest hat rising above her fox-mask like face. She had three toes on each foot and three fingers on each hand, gripped around a massive calligraphy brush. There was a Yin-Yang symbol on her chest, and one on each of the large vertical pads on her shoulders. "Renamon Matrix Digivolve to... Taomon!"

The Gorillamon stared at her as she twirled. As Takato knew, though, Gorillamon were unrepentant cowards when it came to fighting a Digimon stronger than they. So they threw Terriermon at Taomon as hard as they could and bolted, swinging up and through the trees.

"What!? Cowards! Come back here and take your punishment, we won't kill you!" Rika ordered the quickly retreating primates.

"Jeez, Rika, you aren't even going to ask if I'm okay?" Terriermon asked dryly from on top of Taomon's hat. "Momentai! This is the Digital world, we'll have plenty of fights to go. Unless Henry really has figured out how to get us out of here."

"He can call us on the Digivices now!" Guilmon explained excitedly.

Terriermon blinked, clearly surprised that even Henry had managed to do something like that through the Firewall the Tamers had made. "Wow. Don't tell him how impressed I am, 'cause it'll go right to his head if Henry learns I know how smart he is. Then there'd be no living with him!"

"You couldn't handle someone else with too big an ego around when you already do the job?" Rika smirked at Terriermon.

"In your dreams!" Terriermon scoffed, turning his head and waving his hand dismissively. He stopped suddenly and turned to her. "Speaking of Dreams, Dream Girl -"

Takato chuckled as Rika began chasing Terriermon down, threatening to kill him. He was glad that even after years apart, they were both still such good friends. Besides, he noted as Rika caught Terriermon and tied his ears around his feet to turn him into an odd looking backpack, the Digimon knew what he had been getting into and he still did it. Henry had given her the go ahead years ago, after all.

 **X X X**

I glared at my hands, replaying the events of the night in my head for maybe the ten thousandth time, growing angrier and angrier. At the field my first instinct had been to try to apologize, but he had already run away. I'd rushed to the warehouse to find him, but he wasn't there. That was when I began my spiral. He'd run away, left me, because I'd had the gall to call him out. This entire thing was his fault, but he'd decided to blame me? To _punish_ me? My hands clenched into fists. I was glad I didn't have my Digivice. If he was going to deprive me of any chance at advancing my own goal, then I'd gladly do the same to him..!

If it weren't for the fact that his goal was just part of mine. My hands unclenched, but I was as angry as ever. I bet he was laughing at me, reveling in the fact I couldn't do anything to retaliate. I needed him, I always came to him to try and get him to open up. To become better. And this is what I got for it. A cruel Digimon partner who refused to even pretend to behave like a friend. Well, let's see how he liked it. May couldn't reach Ultimate, so it's not like him Digivolving would make getting to the Digital World any faster. I could afford to wait until he decided to pretend.

I shoved off my bed with a huff and paced around. Henry still had my phone slash Digivice, which basically eliminated doing anything on that. And I knew better than to think I could actually get better at Mortal Kombat after so much time trying and failing. And now that my final automatic crossbow design was complete, I wasn't sure what I wanted to make next. I was bored out of my mind, and restless, and I hated BlackGuilmon! I needed something _new_ to distract me from everything that was going on. And so, before I even knew what I was doing, I had pulled out something old and placed it on my bed.

My old box of cards, toy Digivices, and things my parents had given me before disappearing more than ten years ago. I felt calm just looking at it, seeing the messy pile of blue and green backed paper, the silvery and dust covered toy Digivices. Whereas once the box and everything in it made me angry enough to hide it away, never to be seen again, now that I knew the truth it felt good just to touch it. These were the closest things I had to real memories of my parents, along with the goggles on my head. I could barely remember them after so long, aside from my recurring nightmare of when they left. I couldn't even remember their faces.

I shook off those thoughts and reached in to the box, rummaging around for a moment. I'd grabbed a few good cards I'd left in my deck after I'd abandoned it, but I was wondering what all was in the 'collection' that might work differently in real life versus the game. I sat down beside the box and pulled out a handful of Sukamon cards. With how little the box had moved over the years, everything was pretty much exactly how I'd dumped it in after tearing them out of the card binder I'd put them in, the pages arranged by in universe lore. These Sukamon cards weren't even all the ones I used to have if I remembered; I'd thrown plenty away when it became clear they were as cool as the Digimon printed on them. And now I had a partner who was even worse than a Sukamon. I tossed the cards on the bed and reached in again for another semi-organized pile. This handful was of an interesting Digimon that had never shown up in a show while I was watching. It was the Rookie and Champion stages of a Digimon called Commandramon, a little soldier like dinosaur with an M16. It was a pretty cool design that really should be used for the show. If he were orange and didn't have a gun, he'd have been a Digidestined Digimon for sure by now. The next card was his Champion form, Sealsdramon, which was a larger, cyborg version with a combat knife. Again, more than cool enough to be a main character's Digimon partner. But again, not an orange or red dragon.

Speaking of which... what was that? I leaned over the box and reached in, grabbing hold of an old, faded drawing and pulling it out. The thing was messy, but with hints of talent, something drawn by a child. I remembered Henry had mentioned Dad used to draw his own Digimon. Guilmon, specifically, which meant... This was his drawing. My dad's drawing. It was of a large, red dinosaur with a shaggy mane of white hair, and its appearance sent a pang of familiarity running through my mind. I looked down at the messy handwriting and frowned. Japanese. I could still read it, but not as fast as English after ten years of not having to read it. "Growlmon," I read aloud. That word was the big, red Romanji at the top of the page. I moved on to the others and noticed they were mainly unimportant measurements. Greymon sized. I moved on to the drawing in more detail. There were black triangles on his red body that looked very similar to the red ones on my own idiot partner's and I realized what this was. A Digivolution of Guilmon. I stood up and held it in front of me, then slowly moved over to my drawing desk. I felt this need to update this for today, to imagine what BlackGuilmon could become.

I stopped and glanced into the box again, and slowly reached in. There, once again, was the card I had never seen before. It was a simple design, even if it made no sense. On one side, red with a greed 'D' made of pixels with a monster roaring out of it. I turned it over and frowned. A simple, black design. Four identical, equilateral triangles. Three of them were placed tip to tip with the one in the center, itself circumscribed by a circle. I'd seen this symbol so often lately I hadn't even thought about it. The Digital Hazard. I glanced down at the drawing again and saw that the hazard wasn't on the Growlmon's chest, then turned back to the card. I froze. In my hand was nothing more than a simple Digivolution card. I stared at the card for a while, then shook my head and tossed it back into the box. "Stupid BG. Everything makes me think of him now." I moved over to my desk and picked up my favorite sketching pencil. "BlackGrowlmon, though... that I can get behind." I traced the overall design of the Dragon-Dinosaur, even adding the familiar symbol to his shoulders, right where I thought – no, _knew_ it would be.

As I continued drawing, I felt my heart growing heavier and heavier, my anger slowly floating away with every line. Finally, it was gone, and I stared at the completed drawing. BlackGrowlmon, a Greymon sized Digimon. He was deep black with rusty, crimson lines and triangles covering his body, as well as the tips of his new horns and the massive blades growing from his powerful forearms. His claws had grown significantly from BlackGuilmon's, and were now tipped with deep black edges. The white mane of hair cascaded down his back, wilder and angrier than even the old drawing's had been. I stared at the new drawing for a while, then calmly picked both it and the old one up, folding them over one another and putting them back in the box.

I knew that, even though BlackGuilmon was being unreasonable, I couldn't afford to wait anymore. I was being stubborn and stupid. I needed him to Digivolve to BlackGrowlmon and beyond. And besides, I wasn't being entirely fair. BlackGuilmon was, kind of at least, trying. He would do things with us and he tried not to be the absolute worst all the time. Just close. Hey, compared to when he threatened to kill and eat Dorimon when we first met him, that was improvement... right?

This was the _last time_ I would be the bigger man, I lied to myself. The last time!

 **X X X**

 _Wow, Not-Me-Guilmon isn't the only grumpy one. Taka – I mean, Tasuke, sorry! Tasuke is just as grumpy as Not-Me-Guilmon. Maybe even more grumpy. But I guess that makes sense. If Rika is his mom, then he must be as grumpy as she is sometimes. And Takato – hey, I did it right that time! Yay! – And Takato is his dad, so he can probably get_ really _angry. I hope he doesn't get as angry as Takato can get or that could be bad, especially since Not-Me-Guilmon isn't nice like I am! If he turned into a big, scary dragon, it would probably be bad._

 _But at least we found Terriermon. Once we have Henry, all of Takato's and my best friends will be together again! And then we can help keep Tasuke safe... as long as that Cadetmon and his partner don't hurt Taka – oh no, I messed it up again!_

 _Oh... well, I hope I don't mess it up on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


	19. Finally! BlackGrowlmons Roar!

**AN: Howdy, everybody. Hope you're doing good. I'm finally in my apartment, so that's better. And I finally finished this chapter, too! Another bonus. I hope you like it, because I had fun writing it!**

 **Anyhoo. Time for responses:**

 **To smartalec121: Jen's apprehension is more about the methods, yeah. Doing what Chiros suggested wouldn't sit well with anyone, and it honestly doesn't sit well with him, really. But he based his life off of Greek heroes, and they're terrible when they think it calls for it. So he's willing to be, too. Not a 'good' guy, honestly. Taj and BG are... interesting. It's not always going to swerve the direction you think. Finally, I'm glad you liked checking in with Takato and Rika. Yeah... some things never change. And Terriermon having a bigger mouth than his body is one of them.**

 **To Guest: I hope you enjoy what comes next here. As for Taj's hair... How dare you ask me for that? Biggest spoilers ever! Come on!  
** … **Really, the hair just boils down to one thing. I'll address in this chapter – because of your reminder, actually, so thanks. I kept forgetting to put that explanation in. It also didn't seem... organic, all the time, to mention haircuts. In this chapter it's about... mid to late November, so they'll be having Thanksgiving then Christmas breaks soon, so I'll probably just mention that it happens during those times.**

 **Well, everyone... enjoy!**

 _ **Episode 19: Finally! BlackGrowlmon's Roar!**_

I still hadn't been over to see BlackGuilmon, even after a week of waiting for the both of us to calm down. Every time I wanted to, I just... I got so mad. Besides, there was too much going on. After our school's team had won the game, they were in for the State Championship, and the school had gone crazy. Pep rallies, school events, and encouragement from the faculty to watch the practices. No detentions this week, though. That meant that I finally had my Digivice back from Henry... even if I couldn't do anything with it.

Predictably, May was ecstatic about the game. She was dressed head to toe in red memorabilia our school sold, and had even managed to stuff Dorimon into a toddler's shirt despite her protests. May had foam fingers, a jersey, flags, a hat, chairs, blankets. The whole _ten_ yards. Yeah, I didn't think it was all that funny when she said it either. Dorimon laughed of course, but that doesn't mean anything. And Davis didn't laugh, but he's been so worried about that Greek guy lately that it probably means even less. It was going to be nice to have a day off from them.

I pulled into the school's driveway and parked my truck. There it was, the big bus taking a big chunk of the school out to Mile High for the State Championship. May was crazy about it... as evidenced by the fact she hadn't stopped screaming team chants the entire time I'd been driving her, her Digimon, and Davis to the school. "We're here!" I snapped, stopping her chanting for a moment. I coughed and leaned back in my seat. "I mean, uh, we're here. Yay."

"Come on, Taj, why won't you come to the game with us?!" May asked, pouting in the passenger seat. Dorimon started to do it, too.

Davis glowered at me from the back. "Yeah. Why do I have to go alone?"

"Because the boss said I didn't have to go. So I'm not," I supplied with a shrug. "Hey, it's your fault for not finding the guy, yet."

Davis could probably kill a Champion Digimon with the glare he gave me. I threw my hands up defensively. "Sorry! Sorry... I'm just busy, okay?"

"Your mysterious 'plans,'" May remarked. She reached out and ruffled my hair, continuing despite my protests. "Is it finally time for that haircut?"

"So I can have blue frosted tips? I'll wait a little while longer!" I snapped when I finally managed to shove her hand away.

"Because the blue-orange modern art hair is better than that," Davis remarked. This time my glare could kill a Champion. "But what _are_ you doing?"

I turned to look out the windshield and leaned back into my seat. My eyes locked on the bus other people were piling into. I'd have gone if he'd wanted to go. And if he'd DeDigivolved; I'm not taking a velociraptor out in public."... I think I know where BlackGuilmon is."

May and Davis leaned on the center console, Dorimon leaping onto it between them. "You sure, Dummy?"

"Yeah. I need to see him before this gets any worse." I nodded at the bus. "That means get the hell out of my car so I can!"

"... Do you have to?" May asked dryly. "It's been so nice and quiet without him."

I rolled my eyes. "Have fun, Guys," I told her. I unlocked the doors to make sure she and Davis knew... get the hell out. They didn't. "You're going to miss your bus."

"Crap!" And May was out the door, forgetting Davis and her Digimon in the process. And to close my door!

We watched her go for a moment, then I turned on those she'd left behind. "You're going to want to catch up with her."

"Yeah, probably," Davis sighed. He picked up the obviously annoyed Dorimon, then got out of my truck, slamming his and May's doors closed as he went. A quick wave at me, and he was on his way to the bus where May... I don't want to say waited, because she was too busy talking stats and hyping up with the Football players to notice they hadn't followed right behind her. I rolled my eyes and waved back, waiting for them to get on the bus and pull away.

"Well... I guess it's time to deal with my other friend," I groaned. I let my head fall forward to rest on top of the wheel. "Ugh..." When would I catch a break? I let myself wallow for a few more minutes, then looked up and got ready to leave. Ms. Jennings was there, talking with another teacher about something. I shot her the dirtiest glare I could before pulling away. I was pissed off at BlackGuilmon, but I couldn't do anything about that if I wanted us to make up. But I could definitely hate a substitute teacher with an 'I'm a real teacher' complex.

I flipped her off over my shoulder for good measure. I had to get all this out of my system before I accidentally aimed it at BlackGuilmon. He'd never come back then.

 **X X X**

Davis still wasn't sure about all this. The game last week had bothered him. Something about it was... wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. But he at least was sure no one would try anything here, surrounded by all these people and cameras. Revealing Digimon to the world was a bad idea, even the freelancers and crazies understood that for some reason or another. He was sure that this Chiros guy would hold off while his prey was in some place this public, but he knew if the man decided to do something stupid he was the only line of defense that almost a thousand kids had against an Ultimate level Digimon. All because May had to go to this game.

Which they were losing, so Davis couldn't even enjoy himself as she screamed loud enough from very high up to be heard on the field. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT PLAY CALL!?"

Davis sighed and shook his head. He helped her sneak in Dorimon for this, and all the Digimon was doing was gorging herself on Licorice under the chairs while her partner screamed at the field because their team was just worse than the other one. "Jeez, they're worthless down there!" May growled as the team punted the ball again. She sat down with a huff. "Worthless!"

"Would it have been better if they'd lost last week?" Davis asked earnestly. Losing a tight game was better than getting destroyed... by twenty four points at the end of the first quarter. "Ouch..."

May obviously did not think that was a good question, given she whirled on him and jammed her finger into his shoulder. "What kind of stupid question is that, Davis? The chance to go all the way is more than worth the embarrassment of being the biggest state losers in memory!" The coach turned around on the field and threw his arms up at her. She was demoralizing the team now, apparently.

"Sorry I asked," he supplied quietly, placating her enough to take her seat once more. Davis groaned and leaned back in his seat, ignoring the other students packed tight around him.

"Davis, there's a Digimon here!"

Davis fought the urge to snap his eyes open and surge to his feet. He calmly opened his eyes instead and leaned forward, seeing Huckmon appearing beneath the chairs. "I can smell him." Dorimon was the same, apparently, shivering with wide eyes and even ignoring the candy nearby. Huckmon met his partner's gaze. "I don't know exactly where, though. This place is full of all sorts of new smells I wasn't ready for."

Davis looked over at May, whose face was serious, the game below forgotten. "This was a bad idea..." she growled at herself. She slammed her hand on her leg and gripped it tight until her knuckles became white, then snarled down at the appendage. "What was I thinking?!"

"I agreed to help out with it, so it's not your fault," Davis cut in, seeing her spiraling down in the same manner he once had. He began to look around, trying to find any hint of the enemy. "And the Director signed off on it, so if you want to blame anyone you can blame him."

"Blame him? Wow, G-Man, I never thought I'd hear you say that," Dorimon piped up. She sniffed the air and sighed. "Too bad BlackJerkmon isn't here. He could smell the guy through all this."

May chuckled at that, then turned to Davis and smiled. "Thanks."

He shrugged and was about to reply, but was cut off by a scream. He whirled on the field and a snarl flew onto his face. The players had run off the field, trying to avoid an expanding, swirling fog crackling with electricity. "Students, it seems there is some kind of weather phenomena occurring. Please carefully evacuate now."

Davis looked at May. "Leave. I'll catch up."

May stood up, picking up Dorimon and fixing Davis with a serious look. "Be careful, Davis. We don't want you to die just when you became our friend."

Davis smiled back. "Have I lost yet?"

She nodded. "KayKay. Kick his ass." Then she turned and rushed off after the rest of the class.

Davis watched her go for a moment, then stood up and began rushing in the opposite direction. He pulled out his Digivice and sent a message about what was happening to the Director so he could eliminate any evidence. "Huckmon, ready?" he asked. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his shining, Blue Card.

"To keep a friend safe? I hatched ready!" he shouted as Davis reached the edge of the stands. He appeared beside him and leaped off. "Huckmon Matrix Digivolve to..!"

Davis swiped the card and leaped off after his partner, arms stretched out as the massive, see through egg appeared and exploded. SaviorHuckmon shouted his name, then threw his arm out to catch his partner. They plummeted for a moment, then SaviorHuckmon hit the ground and absorbed the impact for the both of them and they landed on the field, skidding through the grass and leaving deep gouges of dirt. Davis shoved his sunglasses on as they slid into the Digital Field, and then leaped from his partner's arm, rolling to his feet and preparing for battle. The ever expanding Digital Field finally settled, taking up the entire football field and leaving the combatants alone and unseen. "Agent Chiros, right?" Davis growled at the man standing beside a large, black and red Sagittarimon.

"And you're Davis Estevez." He crossed his arms and glared at the young man. "So, you're training children to be like you now? How many have they killed by now?"

Davis snarled at the reminder of what he'd done. "SaviorHuckmon! Take him!" Davis snapped, deciding he wouldn't suffer this guy any more. "Digi-Modify! Swift Blue Wolf, activate!"

The image of SaviorHuckmon flickered for a moment, then a half dozen more appeared all around him as he began to bounce from location to location as he ran, faster now, at Sagittarimon. " _Psifitropo!_ " Chiros shouted, turning his Digivice and tapping the screen twice. " _Ektelo,_ _MavrosDankomon!_ " Sagittarimon glowed for a moment, then began to quickly nock and fire arrows at the many SaviorHuckmon copies rushing him.

Davis grimaced when he heard that. This guy wasn't going to give him any space to operate, Modifying his Digimon in Greek... The arrows streaked across the field, golden beams arcing towards the various SaviorHuckmon. Most passed through, distorting the image for a moment before hitting the ground. "I was hoping that would end the mirage." Davis turned and raised his arms, barely blocking the punch that Chiros had launched his way. Davis hissed in pain and shoved, giving himself enough space to ready himself for a fight. Nearby, the images of SaviorHuckmon snarled and clutched at their left arm. Chiros readied himself as well. "Now... to the death." He rushed forward again, fist raised and swinging towards Davis once more.

 **X X X**

I cursed at the mud when my shoes slipped on the ice for the fifth time, slowing me down enough that I was sure the Cinnabons I'd packed were starting to get cold. At least all that training with Davis and May was paying off; I may have been slipping and sliding, but I wasn't losing my footing despite that. I stopped and reached into my bag, rooting around and eventually pulling out something else Davis had told me to buy once it snowed – ice cleats, metal chains that wrapped around a boot. I found a rock to sit on and looped the chains around, then stood up and shouldered my bag again. The Digivice said I was close.

Eventually, the compass began to spin wildly and shut. "I know you're here, BlackGuilmon," I shouted to the empty, _cold_ park. No animals chittered in the trees. Another tell – he'd scared them all off. I sighed at his silence. "I brought Cinnabon!"

There was the grumble of a hungry stomach when I said that, followed by a sad whine. Slowly but surely, BlackGuilmon prowled out of the shadows. He huffed and sat down beside me, but he had the patience to not immediately shred my backpack this time. "Huh," I grunted before reaching over to grab the first Cinnabon for him.

"What?" he hissed angrily at my noise.

"Just... surprised you're being so calm," I explained before offering the first peace offering. He turned and sniffed the Cinnabon, then tore it from my hand in a single bite, nearly taking off a finger with it. "Never mind!"

He swallowed his snack and turned to me, glaring angrily. "... Thank you. I was hungry." He turned away and cast his gaze down.

"'Thank you?' Wow, you must have _really_ been hungry," I remarked dryly. He turned and glared at me, growing annoyed. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding... You could have come back, you know."

He huffed again and nodded at my backpack. I sighed back before getting him another cinnamon roll. "I'm sorry," I told him as he devoured the snack. He stopped mid bite and stayed there, frozen. "I... I shouldn't have gotten that angry with you. Not when you were trying so hard just by being there. I'm sorry."

He turned his eye to me and shut his mouth. There was silence and stillness, just the mist and noise created by our breath in the cold air to interrupt. Finally he sat up straight and nodded. "I am... also sorry, Tasuke," he finally said. "I should not have said that about your parents. It was... mean."

My jaw dropped and my mind went blank. He..? He had really apologized? My Digimon? He must have been able to read my surprise, because his sincere look turned annoyed. "Well? What do you have to say, Tasuke? Or are you just going to sit there freezing your tongue?" he snapped impatiently.

My jaw snapped shut; that was more like him. In a good way, though. "Thank you, BlackGuilmon." I smiled and reached out to pat his head. He stiffened, but eventually leaned in to the sign of affection. "Guess we should get out of here and catch up on the last week, huh? Maybe let you sleep somewhere warm?" I shivered.

"... There are many Cinnabons I missed," he admitted. I chuckled and reached for the last one, and he devoured it in a single bite. "I have been thinking..."

I resisted the urge to make a remark about him thinking. At all.

"Perhaps, maybe, – " His head shot up and his pupils, round for a moment, became thin, reptilian slivers once more. Smoke began to rise from his mouth and he sniffed the air. "There is a Digimon I do not recognize nearby. And a human."

My eyes widened. "We're being hunted? Of course... that Chiros guy fought her here. He must have come here to set a trap!" I growled. I slammed my palm into my face. "Dammit, we have to get out of here!"

"They are coming from that direction," BlackGuilmon explained, turning to stare at the same path I'd arrived from.

"Shit. We can't get back to the car then..." I shut my eyes and traced the path of the forest in my mind, thinking about the traps that Davis demanded we memorize when we'd placed them. "Okay, follow me." I sprinted off, BlackGuilmon at my heels, trying to think. We didn't have a single advantage other than our traps; Sagitarrimon could destroy the trees and sprint after us easily if he wanted to, but I was hoping that the drain of going Ultimate when you just got it would be enough to keep them from immediately going that far. But unlike May, the traps I was using wouldn't be to distract.

"Stay to the right of that tree, then swerve after me," I told BlackGuilmon as we passed the first trap. He followed after me, leaving the net undisturbed. We kept running, snaking between and past different traps. Nothing had gotten in one yet, but I couldn't tell how far back the enemy was so that might not mean they were dodging them. Besides, the real trap they had to worry about was just ahead. "Jump... now!" I leaped over the trap, BlackGuilmon leaping past me and running into the open field. We kept running until we got to the other side, sliding into the trees and stopping so the enemy wouldn't notice we were looping around.

We stared intently for a while, waiting. "They are getting closer," BlackGuilmon whispered. I nodded and pulled my backpack open, pulling out my crossbow and putting it together. I slid in some of the ammunition and shouldered the bag again. "They are nearly at the last trap now."

I took a deep breath, ready for the Ultimate to burst through. I pulled out my Digivice and sent a message to the others. "I'm being hunted by Chiros at the park. Hurry."

Then two figures burst through the trees. One was a large robot that cut through the spike ball that had swung down from the tree, only for the tree he was standing beneath to collapse around him and slam him into the ground. The other was – "Ms. Jennings?" I asked, standing up straight in my surprise.

She turned from trying to cut her giant, cyborg Digimon out from under the tree. I looked over at it and my eyes widened. Sealsdramon, a Champion. I hated to say I was happy that was hunting us, but compared to an Ultimate like Sagittarimon, this was _way_ better. "What are you doing here?" I asked, taking a step forward. BlackGuilmon moved with me, still smoking with a death threat.

Ms. Jennings sighed and crossed her arms. "I don't want to hurt you, Mr. Joryawa..." she offered simply before hardening her gaze. "So let us destroy that Digimon."

My eyes widened. "Wh-what!?" I shouted angrily. "You're here to hurt BlackGuilmon!?"

She glanced to the side, then back at me. "I'm Jennifer Smith, former agent of D-CARD," she explained. 

Oh, good. Another mercenary in it for money. "So who do you want to sell us to?" I growled at her.

She threw her hands up. "Who would do that!?" she asked, surprising me. "Selling a child? No... It's like I told you, I'm only here to destroy that Digimon. He's dangerous."

"I mean, he can be a jerk -" BlackGuilmon growled at me, but I ignored him. "- but he's pretty good when you get to know him."

"He's a predatory monster."

"Eh..."

"I am not!" BlackGuilmon shouted at me.

I shrugged. "I mean..." I shook my head and raised my weapon at Ms. Jenn – Agent Smith. "He's also my friend."

She shut her eyes. "Please. You don't understand, The Director is involved in something terrible, and it involves your partner. For the good of the world -"

"Gethen's in the government. Of course he's involved in something terrible," I retorted dismissively. "But I need him, and I won't let you hurt my friend."

She sighed and shook her head. "Then I guess this is it." She reached into her pocket.

"Attack the Digimon!" I ordered BlackGuilmon before firing at Agent Smith. She gasped and threw herself to the side, slipping on a rock and tumbling into the icy mud. "Should have worn ice cleats!" I aimed and fired again, but she rolled out of the way.

BlackGuilmon, meanwhile, was strafing the Sealsdramon, launching Pyro Grenades at the prone enemy. The Champion snarled as the explosions rocked against his armor, leaving slight scorch marks and dents all around him. I stopped firing at the human and pulled out my phone and a card. "Digi Modify! Power, activate!" I snapped. The next Pyro Grenade doubled in size and slammed into Sealsdramon's face, eliciting a loud, mechanical cry of pain. Dust, ice, and splinters flew into the air, then began to drift down around him. BlackGuilmon fired again, but there was no cry this time.

"Death Behind!"

BlackGuilmon turned and ducked, the knife of the Champion that had appeared behind him scraping along his back. BlackGuilmon snarled in pain but brought his claws up. "Rock Crusher!" They slammed into the metal and bounced off, leaving a dent. Then Sealsdramon's foot slammed into his face and he was sent flying.

I couldn't help him, though, because I was still stuck dealing with Agent Smith. She had recovered when I tried to help BlackGuilmon last time, and now she was avoiding every shot I made. If I messed up, she'd be able to Digi-Modify Sealsdramon and then BlackGuilmon would be in a way worse position. I aimed again and fired, the sphere slamming into her gut this time. She cried out in pain and stumbled backwards, clutching her gut. I tried to fire again, but the string just shot forward uselessly. Dammit, my last shot!

I rushed her and threw a fist at her face as she stumbled, only for her to catch it. "You aren't really fighting, Tasuke." She stood up, still wincing, and threw me to the ground. "Stay down. I mean it when I say I don't want to hurt a kid."

Sealsdramon jumped on top of my struggling Digimon and slammed his open claw into the ground, pinning BlackGuilmon and causing him to cry out in pain. "No!" I screamed, trying to get to my feet. A foot on my back slammed me into the ground.

"Tasuke, I don't want this to be harder than it has to be," Smith said from above him. I turned my head to glare up at her. She almost sounded like she actually meant that... but she didn't stop her Digimon from readying his knife.

"SCREW YOU!" I pushed up hard and fast, throwing her off suddenly. I got to my feet and jumped on top of her, slamming the empty crossbow down into her arms as she blocked to keep her face safe. "I'll kill anyone that tries to hurt my partner and get in our way! I'm here to save my family, and you won't stop us!"

BlackGuilmon roared behind me, and I stopped attacking. I turned in surprise and watched as he began to glow, a black and red egg forming around him that threw Sealsdramon backwards. Agent Smith's Digivice began to scream, and a red Hazard appeared on its screen. I scrambled over to my Digivice in wonder. There, too, was the Hazard. "BlackGuilmon Digivolve to..!" Something grew within the egg, claws and flame pushing against the shell. The shell glowed for a moment, and shattered. BlackGuilmon was no longer on his back, and he was no longer even BlackGuilmon. "BlackGrowlmon!"

He was huge, Greymon sized and just how I updated my dad's drawing. There were massive blades growing out from his forearms, and massive white claws on his hands and feet. Rings of red all over his body, and tiger like stripes of crimson on his neck reaching down onto his white chest. Red flames flew from his jaw as he screamed at the sky, and his white mane of hair fluttered in the sudden air pressure the heat generated. Baring teeth the size of my hand, he growled and took a threatening step towards Sealsdramon. My Digivice whirred for a moment and the screen changed. "BlackGrowlmon, the Jet-Black Demon Dragon. This is one of the most powerful Virus Champion Digimon out there, with the power to shake the solid earth with his roar alone. Completely sure of its power, this Digimon annihilates its enemies with a full frontal attack that none can survive, be it burning them from afar with his powerful Black Exhaust Flame or carving them to pieces up close with the Plasma Blades on its arms. _Your Digimon partner._ "

 **X X X**

SaviorHuckmon and Sagittarimon danced around one another, the large white Digimon unable to close in because of the arrows flying his direction, and Sagittarimon unable to hit SaviorHuckmon when he kept switching places with the mirage clones around him. Arrows rained down and crashed through the dirt before vanishing in a burst of dissolving data. "I have the advantage here, you must know. Eventually, I will manage to hit you," Sagittarimon said as he unleashed another volley. "Though you show great skill to survive for this long as a close combat oriented Digimon."

"Close combat? Oh, I can see where you'd think that," SaviorHuckmon replied with a toothy grin. He dodged around and flames began to explode from his jaw. "Meteor Flame!" Fire bolts began to fly from his mouth, appearing from whichever mirage he was replacing at that exact moment, and rocketing towards Sagittarimon.

The archer growled and raised his bow to fire at the bolts coming at him, giving SaviorHuckmon more than enough time to charge forward, leaping and aiming the black blades of his feet at Sagittarimon's chest. "Ledge Strayed!" the blades glowed white and crashed into his enemy, forcing him to stumble backwards, but not leaving nearly enough of a wound on his chest given their typing. The Digimon and his human partner hissed in pain, but kept reacting normally. Feedback; they were close, Davis noted. SaviorHuckmon charged forward again. "He's virus type now!"

Davis grinned when he heard that and launched a kick at Chiros' head, only for the attack to be deflected. "So, that's what you said. BlackAgumon," he remarked. Chiros slammed his elbow forward and brought his other hand to his back. Davis saw through the feint and simply blocked the elbow, keeping an eye on the other hand. He was glad he did when he leaned back to avoid the incoming knife blade.

"The other one is my target, but you are a threat as well," Chiros remarked, cold and sad. "If you were still a child and not a murderer, I may have been conflicted about this."

Davis snarled and held himself close. He had to get that knife. Fast. But he also had to help his partner. He spared a glance to see that the mirage had vanished, but now they were in close combat. Davis dodged another stab and threw a fist at Chiros' face that was deflected. The knife angled at his chest and he turned to avoid it, then lashed out with his hand and wrenched Chiros' wrist at an unnatural angle. The wrist snapped and the knife fell, kicked away in the struggle. Davis shoved Chiros back and pulled out his Digivice. "Digi-Modify! Agumon Expert, Activate!"

SaviorHuckmon glowed bright and chuckled. "Now you're in trouble," he remarked.

"What is a fight without danger!" Sagittarimon cried in excitement. He brought his bow around and slammed it into SaviorHuckmon's arm blades, locking them in place. "METEOR GALLOP!" He shot forward, slamming into his opponent and pushing him back through the dirt and slamming his front hooves into SaviorHuckmon's chest.

Davis gasped as the wind flew from his lungs and he fell to his knee. "Feedback of that level? I suppose there is a downside to being Digidestined!" He looked up and rolled to the side to avoid a hammer kick that would have knocked him out, and when he came out of it he was on his back with Chiros on top of him. "I'm sorry that it has to be this way." He looped his hands around Davis' throat and gripped tight. Davis gurgled and immediately began to slam his fists into the man's elbows and hands to get him to let go, but he wouldn't. His hands were just too tight. Davis began to look around and his eyes froze. There. He reached out, grabbing the handle of the knife.

Chiros gasped and let go of Davis when a sharp pain erupted in his thigh. "What the -" He lost his balance as Davis brought his legs up to his neck, then spun to keep him stuck to the ground. Chiros glared at the kid, then at the knife lodged in his femoral artery. His vision brightened for a moment as he felt himself losing blood. "... Murderer. What does that make? A hundred?"

Davis glared at him as the blood began to stain the man's pants, quickly spreading onto his own clothes. "You all came after _me_."

"Adrian!" Sagittarimon shouted as pain erupted in his leg. He turned to his partner, bleeding out and held firm by the young agent. The Digimon reared up on his back legs and snarled. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

"Trident Saber!" SaviorHuckmon appeared in his path but Sagittarimon raised his Chrome Digizoid bow to block the attack. It could take it, and then he could – The red star appeared, and SaviorHuckmon flashed, reappearing behind his opponent.

And then, all at once, the strikes hit. The first two slashes carved the Digizoid bow apart like a hot knife through butter. Sagittarimon barely had time to register the surprise at that before the third strike hit him, carving him in two vertically and shattering his Digicore and drowning his mind in pain. He stumbled to one side as he began to vanish, data spiraling into the Digital Field and back into the Digital World somewhere. Sagittarimon forced his way through his pain and found his partner on the ground. He reached out for his dying partner. "A-Adria -" And then he was gone.

And his partner, staring into the sky, was gone, too.

Davis let the corpse go and stood up, ignoring the shaking of his hands. He took a deep breath and turned away from the body. "Dammit," he growled at himself and the blood covering him. He needed to clean this up. He picked up his Digivice to alert the Director and froze. "I'm being hunted by Chiros at the park. Hurry." A text from Taj sent not long after his own fight with Chiros had begun. Which meant... "Oh no." He turned to his partner. "We need to hurry to the park. Taj was the target."

SaviorHuckmon's eyes widened, then narrowed. "I'll get us there yesterday," he said before picking up his partner. He stopped for a moment and looked at the man's body on the field. "Are you... okay?"

Davis looked in the same direction. "A hundred and five," he remarked, voice quiet and breaking. He took a deep breath, then looked up. "I'll call the Director on the way. We need to hurry."

 **X X X**

"Black Exhaust Flame!" BlackGrowlmon roared, rearing his head back, then launching forward. Black flames exploded from his mouth, swirling towards Sealsdramon. If that mechanical face could display surprise or fear I bet it would have. Instead, he raised his knife and dove to the side. Black flames exploded where he had been a moment before, glassing the dirt and turning ice to steam.

I whirled on Agent Smith and raised my crossbow like a defensive tonfa. Her arms were bruised from my assault, and her sleeves ripped slightly. And now she had a gun. "I don't want to hurt you," she said as she aimed it at me. "But I have to keep your Digimon out of Gethen's hands. He's working with -"

I threw my crossbow at her while she was distracted and her arms came up. I rushed forward and grabbed her wrist, wrenching the gun's barrel up and away from me. Her hand tightened in surprise and the gun kicked, firing a bullet at an angle that had it slamming into a tree. I slammed my foot into her toes and yanked again, and the bullets began to hit the ground beside us. "I don't care!" I told her while we struggled for her gun. "He can help me and BlackGuilmon get strong so I can get to the Digital World and find my parents! So I don't care!" I slammed my knee into her gut and she dropped the gun. I fumbled with it and it went soaring, hitting the ground with a quiet thud some distance away before being crushed by Sealsdramon's foot when he dodged another slash of BlackGrowlmon's claws.

BlackGrowlmon snarled and roared again, the sound echoing through the air and shaking the earth. Smith and I shook and struggled to find our footing, and even Sealsdramon was forced to clutch the ground with his claws. It was at that point that BlackGrowlmon charged his opponent again, and the cyborg was unable to pull his claws from the dirt in time to avoid his shoulder charge. "Gah!" Sealsdramon cried out as he was sent flying backwards, crashing through trees before flipping back to his feet. He immediately charged BlackGrowlmon and vanished, reappearing behind him. "Death Behind!"

The blade slammed into BlackGrowlmon's shoulder and he snarled in pain, stumbling forward. His tail lashed out and hit Sealsdramon, forcing him back and pulling the knife out. BlackGrowlmon whirled and the blades on his arms extended, glowing bright. "Plasma Blade!" He stepped forward, ignoring the wound, and slashed twice in a massive 'X.' Sealsdramon dodged the first and brought his knife up to block the second, thinking the dense metal would keep him safe. There was a loud hissing noise and the metal began to boil and melt from the point of contact, and BlackGrowlmon's blade cut easily through the weapon. Sealsdramon tossed the weapon to the side and reached for another knife on his back, but BlackGrowlmon was quicker. The blades, still glowing, rushed forward and slammed into his gut. The armor keeping him safe hissed and boiled, too, and massive, melted cuts appeared on his chest as he was sent flying back.

Agent Smith watched with wide eyes. "NO!" She turned to me, brow set... then threw something at the ground and shut her eyes.

And then I was blind. And deaf. "AH!" I screamed, clutching at my face and ears. The world was white and... wobbly, I think. And ringing. Loud. Oh, God, it was loud. "AHH!"

"Digi-Modify! Alias, activate!"

Aw, crap.

"WHAT!? Where did you go, you coward!?"

My vision slowly returned. "How do you shout so loud you can overcome a flashbang grenade!?" I screamed. Predictably, I couldn't hear it.

"They are escaping!"

"Pick me up and take me with you!" I ordered, covering my eyes. "I still can't see or hear!"

 **X X X**

Jen sprinted along with Cadetmon in her arms, cursing under her breath. She was still a little discombobulated, but at least the ringing in her ears had stopped and – unlike Tasuke – she could see. "Dammit, just our luck that he Digivolves when we find him." She glanced down at her partner and slipped on the ice. She hit the ground and twisted to save her partner, crying out in pain that ran through her shoulder when she hit a rock.

"Jen! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" she growled. She sighed and winced as she pushed herself up to her feet. "Ugh... what's the plan, Cadetmon?"

He was quiet as the continued to hurry back to their car. "... We'll meet up with Chiros and Koromon, then run. We can figure something out when we aren't being hunted."

"Unfortunately, you won't get a chance." The two slid to a stop as a massive white Digimon made up of blades landed in front of them. He gingerly placed his partner on the ground and clenched his fists, the red blades on his arms glowing menacingly.

Jen and Cademton stumbled backwards. "Shit... Agent Estevez."

Agent Estevez glared at her. "It seems you have me at a disadvantage," he remarked dryly. "Samantha Jennings can't be your real name."

She glared at him, knowing that was a bad joke. A disadvantage? With an Ultimate Digimon, he held _all_ the cards. "... Jennifer Smith. I used to work for D-CARD, too," she admitted quietly. Cadetmon glanced up and between the humans, then nervously over at the large, foreboding figure of SaviorHuckmon behind Agent Estevez.

"So you decided to work for Greece? An odd choice," he remarked coolly. "Not a lot of money or power compared to some places."

"It wasn't about that!" Cadetmon protested angrily. The eyes of the Agent and his partner whirled on the tiny Digimon, but he stood his ground. "The Director is in league with a monster!"

SaviorHuckmon chuckled. "BG is abrasive and stupid... but he's not a monster."

"No. Reapmon."

Agent Estevez froze. "Reapmon? But that's one of the most evil Digimon there is. Why would he -"

"Something about the Hazard Digimon. They're going to use him after the three of you open the Digital World up. And then it's all over." Agent Estevez was silent at this. Jen sighed and shook her head, saying, "I don't expect a _company man_ like you to believe us. So just kill us and get it over with!"

Agent Estevez took a half step back. "Run." He turned to his partner. "Go find Tasuke and BlackGuilmon, and tell them I've solved this." SaviorHuckmon nodded, then vanished with a gust of wind following him.

Jen blinked. "Uh -"

Cadetmon picked up where she left off: "What are you doing?"

"Did you try to kill Tasuke?" he asked instead of giving them a reply.

Jen glared at him. "I don't want to kill a kid. I pulled a gun to scare him but... I'd never shoot a kid."

He met her eyes and studied her for a moment, then nodded. "I don't want to kill either. I've done it too much already today alone, and I don't want to. Not again. So run. Do what you want – I'm sure you could tell other agents about this and get a few to help you. I'd believe it given all the lies he's been telling lately. All the things that don't add up. Besides, good people with Digimon... there needs to be more of them." His eyes grew hard again and aimed his finger at her eyes. His voice was like the blades of his partner. "But if you try to hurt my friends again, I won't hesitate to correct this decision."

Jen and Cadetmon traded a glance, then sprinted off, leaving Agent Estevez alone in the cold. "Dammit..." Agent Estevez growled under his breath before looking up at the gray sky. "This isn't good..."

 **X X X**

 _Wow, Not-Me-Guilmon was able to Digivolve! I remember the first time I Digivolved. I wonder if Not-Me-Guilmon will get stuck big, too... He wants to Digivolve more, after all, but you have to want to De-Digivolve to do it. Hm... This is hurting my head. I just want some of those Cinnabons that Taka – Agh! It's Tasuke! I want the Cinnabons that **Tasuke** keeps giving Not-Me-Guilmon. They sound yummy... But not as yummy as Guilmon bread... Hm..._

 _I don't think that Davis likes his job. It doesn't sound fun. Actually, I think he should stop. Hurting people like that is scary, and I don't like it. At least he let that Jennifer lady and her Digimon go, so I think he thinks so, too. Especially since he knows what a mean guy that Gethen man is now. Maybe one day he won't have to hurt or fight anybody... but I think that's something Renamon would say is 'a nice idea,' and Rika would say is 'a silly dream.' Takato would agree, though!_

 _Well, maybe we'll see if things get better for all of them on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


	20. Homeward Bound:BlackGigimon!

**AN: Hey everyone. I hope you're all okay, what with Coronavirus closures. My job might send some people away to work from home. Not me, of course, but some people, so it must be worse than I thought. Still, nothing to riot or steal over. Stay safe, wash your hands, all that.**

 **Anyways, outside of that, how are all of you? I'm working on building a D &D group now that I've moved. Seems to be going well, but I don't know if a meeting will actually start until after the self-quarantining ends. But thankfully I haven't figured out where to play yet, so I guess that just means more time to figure it out.**

 **Now for responses!**

 **To Jackie Mueller: Of course there was a JoJo's reference! Tasuke is named that for two reasons. One: the Ta- prefix for the individual name is a pattern in Takato's family (Takehiro, Takato) that I didn't want to break. Then when looking up some JJBA stuff, I found -Suke is a rather common ending to individual names in Japan, so... Two: There's no reason not to make a JoJo's reference when the opportunity arises.**

 **To reddevil47: I get being apprehensive of this story. Even compared to Digimon Tamers it's handling a darker subject matter, if only because it's more real than a Demonic Virus that feeds off of a little girl's Depression to destroy the world. I'm honestly toning down what I think international spy agencies would do in this situation. If naturally occurring WMDs ended up even more powerful in the hands of children, they'd probably start farming Digidestined, for lack of a better term. Every government. Or just kidnap the kids and forcibly raise them in a horrifying Stranger Things-esque experiment. But don't worry, I'm not even going to put the main characters up against kids. Mentioning that Digidestined have died is as close as I'd ever get to that, but I'd never have kids fight to the death in this story. That's approaching 'real world' too dark for me. I still want this to be happy and fun, after all. I hope that the balance keeps staying enough to make the story light; it _is_ Digimon. **

_**Episode 20: Homeward Bound: Black...Gigimon!?**_

I pulled on my shirt and sweatshirt, finally feeling clean from the lukewarm showers that had been set up in our warehouse base. While I toweled off my hair – God it was getting long and annoying – I clenched my free fist and thought about everything that had happened that night. BlackGuilmon had Digivolved. He'd finally Digivolved, and our Merge Rate had jumped back up to thirty three, higher than ever! It was only too bad we hadn't managed to Load that Sealsdramon; maybe we'd be closer to Ultimate, then. And with how much that traitor agent had talked about hurting BlackGuilmon or pointed a gun at me, I wished that I could have been the one to get rid of her. Besides, I don't know if Davis can handle doing that anymore. When we finally made it back to him, soaked in blood from his earlier fight with that Chiros guy... he looked like he was the dead one. Gray, hollow, and stiff. His voice was coarse and quiet. He'd taken his shower first then left with little more than a simple goodbye to me and BlackGuilmon, who had mercifully allowed himself to DeDigivolve when I brought up the warehouse had indoor heating.

At least May was okay. She had apparently been worried sick, but stuck on a bus with the rest of the school on their way home. My text had, understandably, made her freak out and the moment she got home she dialed me and began screaming at me over the phone. Was I okay, what happened, who was Chiros working with, was BlackGuilmon okay? It was the last question that really surprised me, even when I learned that it had been a request from Dorimon. I'd decided not to tell him that the other Digimon cared enough to ask, given his opinion on friendship with her or Huckmon so far. So I'd gone through it all with her. When she realized I was okay, all she said at the end was, "Damn. I was hoping the Troll wouldn't Digivolve until we could make fun of him some more." It was a good enough joke for us both to laugh, if only to clear the terror of the day. BlackGuilmon had watched in confusion, then settled back down with only minor grumbling.

I finished drying my hair and tossed the towel aside before checking my Digivice. It was still pretty early, all things considered, but I was exhausted. Running through the cold, slipping, falling, and then fighting for my life and the life of my partner? I was thinking about sleeping through next week until I realized I'd miss Thanksgiving. And then I realized I was just as hungry as I was tired and decided it would probably be a good idea to get some food before heading home to collapse on my bed. I pulled my shoes on and moved out.

BlackGuilmon, who had been sleeping a couch cushion he'd thrown onto the ground, woke up immediately and angled his head at me. "Okay, I'll be heading home," I told him. I stopped and turned towards him, walking over to scratch his head on a whim. He appreciatively grumbled. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I turned to leave again, but was stopped when razor sharp claws ever so carefully grabbed hold of me like fingers. I glanced back at BlackGuilmon, his reptilian features strangely readable despite their alien nature. He looked embarrassed, glancing away from me with his eyes. "I would like to say something first, Tasuk – _Taj,_ " he began, stunning me before I could say anything. Taj? _Taj!?_ He knew only my _friends_ called me that. I mean, I'd offered to let him, but... I never expected him to do it! He let go of and I nodded, the motion shaking away my thoughts so I could hear.

BlackGuilmon took a deep breath and moved to sit on his haunches. "I... am..." He huffed and scratched both sides of his head like an annoyed dog, pulling his wing shaped ears in and over his eyes. I just blinked and remained where I was – I wasn't going to risk screwing this up, whatever it was. He growled and looked straight up. "You are a... Hmm..." He looked at me, almost about to ask if I understood, then shook his head. "I... _Thank you_. For coming to the park for me. And for the Cinnabon. And caring."

I blinked then crouched down to see eye to eye with my Digimon. "We're friends, Buddy. We'll fight, we just need to make up." I scratched his head before pulling him into a hug. It was like hugging a heated, weighted blanket. "Let's agree no more running away, though?"

The Digimon huffed and nodded. "Agreed."

I pushed my friend to arms length and scratched his head. "I'll be back tomorrow, okay?"

"Actually, there was something else," BlackGuilmon cut in. He sighed. "I wish to go to your home. Clearly we will be targets, and being able to fight together quickly is necessary." After a moment his grin turned wicked. "And it will be quicker to Load Digimon if we can fight at a moment's notice!"

I chuckled and nodded. "Okay. But... You do know I can't have a giant dinosaur at home."

"What's a Dinosaur?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and unceremoniously gestured at him. "Oh! Uh... Well, I would be willing... to, _**ugh**_ , DeDigivolve."

I was stunned again.

"What!?" he snapped at my silence, perceiving it as some kind of insult.

I threw my hands up. "I'm just surprised, is all!" I admitted. I stood up tall and pulled out my Digivice. "To be honest, I don't know how this works. We both have to want you to DeDigivolve, right?"

He nodded. "So want it."

I scoffed. "I want you to DeDigivolve, so you need to want it."

"You!"

"You!" 

"YOU!"

"I have been suggesting this for months, BlackGuilmon!" 

"Well... It's not my fault!"

I could already tell this was going to take way too damn long. I was going to have to decide between a nap and lunch, wasn't I?

 **X X X**

Huckmon stared up at his partner, more worried than he had been in quite a long time for the human kid. Ever since he had killed the Greek agent, Davis had been... quiet. It was normal, but the fact he could say that made Huckmon sad. When he'd connected with a human child, all he knew about the human world was what he had been born with. That children were meant to be bright, fun creatures and it was his job to make sure that smile didn't waver. Seeing Davis staring at his own hands, now physically clean but still stained in Davis' own vision, Huckmon felt like a miserable failure. He turned away and set his gaze on the inactive screen on the wall, staring at his own reflection. He wouldn't let being a failure stop him; he'd succeed at saving Davis' smile one day.

And then the screen lit up and Huckmon was staring at his biggest obstacle. "Report," Director Gethen commanded, more than a little bored as he examined other reports and information at his desk. He glanced over after a moment of silence and cleared his throat. Davis glanced up and let his hands fall to his side. _"Report."_

Davis nodded. "Yes, Sir." He coughed and stood up straight, putting on that mask that Huckmon hated seeing so much. "The enemy engaged in a two pronged attack on the two assets. Despite all the information I had to the contrary, the Greek agent, Chiros, was not working alone. Furthermore, it seems that our analysts severely misjudged his mental state. He was willing to attack Asset Anderson and myself in public, in broad daylight. I sent the asset away and – and I _dealt with_ him while SaviorHuckmon dealt with Sagittarimon."

"No concern for the Unspoken Law, then," Director Gethen noted. He sighed and shook his head. "His defeat at the asset's hands must have unnerved him more than our analysts believed. Still, both Greece and the greater EU have disavowed him as a rogue agent. It's likely they sent him in the first place, but I doubt that they would have agreed with his plan of attack. The Unspoken Law is too useful in preventing HYPNOS from bulldozing most of the smaller nations. As powerful as we are, ourselves included." Gethen smiled. "For now. Tell me of BlackGuilmon's Digivolution."

Davis fought down his feelings about Gethen grinning at one of his friends being put in danger. "Agent Chiros was working with someone else, something that makes more sense given his instability. What does not make sense, however, is that we weren't aware of his partner at all. I had no idea that a member of D-CARD had recently defected and was heading in this direction. Perhaps I missed it in one of our briefings?"

Gethen's eyes left the papers he was reading and slowly turned to Davis. "There was nothing to imply that the former Agent Smith was looking for either of the assets," the Director explained, his voice steely and angry. "And betrayals such as that are on a strictly need to know basis. You know that information like that getting out can cause huge problems for the agency and the nation. What did you do with her?"

Davis bit his tongue for a moment, finally reaching the last moment that he could turn back from his decided course of action. His last chance to listen. And maybe if Gethen had been honest about what he was planning? If he hadn't helped let loose that Ultimate near the school to make sure Ogremon could attack the others? If he wasn't threatening Davis with his eyes right then and there?

But no. Screw him. "She began with absurd claims about you. That you somehow have a way to speak with or communicate with Digimon in the Digital World when that is impossible. I made it clear I did not believe and told her to surrender. She tried to Digivolve her partner despite my warnings that she should not. I had SaviorHuckmon deal with them, and the evidence." He looked at his hands again, the image of blood reappearing. He had killed, even if he had let Jennifer Smith run free.

Gethen sighed and shook his hand dismissively, barely even listening to the 'absurd rumors.' He was an excellent liar to take it in stride that well. "Yes, yes, but what happened with the asset?"

Davis felt something in him creak with rage. That was his question? He didn't even care that Davis had, supposedly, killed two people that day? It wasn't anything particularly new, but the idea he may be working with one of the most evil Digimon in existence made the familiar sting all the more painful. Davis clenched his fists slightly and looked back up. "Smith engaged BlackGuilmon and Joryawa in combat, threatening to murder the Digimon. The two did not agree and a fight broke out. It was at this point BlackGuilmon and Joryawa's relationship reached the requisite point to Digivolve. BlackGrowlmon managed to defeat Sealsdramon and Smith, forcing them to run. Shortly afterward, he returned to his original form and returned with us to the Warehouse."

"So, the first step towards opening our path to the Digital World is complete," Gethen said. A power hungry grin spread across his face. "You've done well, Agent Estevez. Your country thanks you. And, I'm sure, your mother would as well if she knew. Keep me apprised of the progress in the assets reaching Ultimate. Once that's done, we'll be able to advance to the final stage."

"Sir." Davis nodded dutifully.

The Director stared into Davis' eyes for a few moments. Finally, he said, "You've done well: I believe a reward is in order. Submit a request by the end of the year and I will approve it." Then the screen shut off.

Davis and Huckmon let out their held breath in heavy sighs. "He bought it..." Davis muttered quietly. He and Huckmon looked at one another. "I think."

Huckmon nodded. "I think so... I hope."

The two were unsure, and realized they could do little more than that. "Let's get home and have some chocolate? How about it?" Davis suggested with a half-smile. He leaned down to hug his partner tight, holding him close like a security blanket. Huckmon let him. After all making sure this kid was okay was his job. And he wanted to succeed, even if only for this moment.

Huckmon forced his usual, cheerful voice for his partner's sake. "Sounds great, Davis! You better buy me extra today. You know how hungry going Ultimate makes me!"

 **X X X**

Lucas Gethen stared at the screen as it shut off, separating him from the Digidestined agent over a thousand miles away. "It isn't often a human can surprise me," he finally told himself. He put down the papers he had been looking at and absent mindedly brushed off one sleeve of his crimson suit. "Congratulations Digidestined Davis Estevez, you are one of a rare few. I truly thought your fear for your mother and her position would keep you under my thumb for at least a while longer, but accusing me? Even subtly? I'm impressed." He sighed and pulled out a small device. "I'm unsure if you did kill Smith, but it matters little. One Tamer who can barely reach Champion isn't an issue, especially when she would be driven away before she could harm your friends. And even if others learn what she knew what's a few more stupid humans and overly loyal Digimon fighting me?"

He pulled the device up and placed it on his desk. Placing his hand on top of it for a few moments, he pulled back and it sparked to life, sending a small Digital Field into the air above it. "Reapmon."

The shadow appeared in the Digital Field, ominous and threatening. "Yes, Sir?" the rasping voice of the Digimon inquired quietly.

Gethen smiled and leaned back, tenting his fingers. "The Digidestined have completed stage one and reached Champion. The plan is progressing as I have foreseen... aside from a few hiccups that can be easily rectified," he admitted. He placed one hand, fingers stretched out so his palm didn't touch the surface, on the table. "Agent Estevez' loyalty can no longer be counted upon. But that shouldn't be a huge problem. Either I can regain it, or we can enact one of our more... fun backup plans."

"Should we begin efforts to Bio-Emerge?"

"It could take some time... Yes. Contact me when you reach the point. Until then, what has been happening with the Tamers?" Gethen responded. He placed the hand on the table onto his chin. "Keeping apprised of their location is important for my future efforts in controlling the Hazard's Digidestined."

"Of course," Reapmon's shadow replied. "They found and reunited with the annoying one when he was nearly Loaded by a troop of Gorillamon."

"Don't sound so disappointed. Having him dead would only drive the Tamers to do something... foolish. Especially since you reported last time that they have found a way to communicate with Wong. He would become quite easy to predict, in that he would become quite mopey. Which in turn would make the Digidestined difficult to control or predict. And likely, the Crimson Knight would behave erratically. His rage was last awoken by the death of an ally, after all."

"Of course, Sir. Merely a greedy thought." Reapmon's arm came up in a half bow. "I will begin preparations on this side of the Firewall, and then we can Bio-emerge sometime in the next few months. The weak point is in the same location, yes?"

"Yes... For now, I think it may be time to step up efforts on this end, as well," he sighed. He glanced over at the papers. The files for the three Japanese agents lay open on his desk, describing a mixture of Digidestined and Tamer as well as their partners. "Given how slow they can be in acting, perhaps it is time for HYPNOS to learn about what we have on our hands. And, to ensure that the children grow to their potential, it may be time to break my agreement with Henry Wong. If the world knows he is here, it's only a matter of time before they would have to defend him, emotions running high and fueling their power. And, I must admit, I am growing impatient. But my plan will work, it's too well thought out to not succeed."

 **X X X**

Henry was deep in thought in the basement, the watch repair glasses on his face magnifying his eyes screwed up in concentration. He carefully, with the minuscule movements that his mother had once told him could have been those of a surgeon, moved his tools to push back wiring. Yet again, the physical formation of the Digivice had changed after sending out a red glow earlier that day. He wasn't quite sure of what that could have been, but he had a suspicion that it was connected to his ward. And now he was completely having to re-develop his understanding of a machine he'd had since he was twelve. Already, it was clear it had a... connection. A network of some kind that held a fuzzy, nebulous link with something very close and very far. The other D-Powers, those of his friends trapped in the Digital World, most likely. He supposed that the superpositional overlap of the Digital World with the internet placing them simultaneously in the house and at the edge of human understanding in space was what made the connection between his Digivice and Takato's and Rika's stronger than, say, the connection between his own and his sister's. Now, if he could only trace that connection more exactly. Perhaps he could find a way to circumvent the Firewall they had built, then.

The door upstairs swung open and Momentai began to yip loudly, which, instead of stopping as it usually did when Tasuke got home, got louder. A moment later, Tasuke's voice came down, "Momentai! Momentai, no!"

Henry raised an eyebrow and put his things down, replacing his watch repair glasses with his normal ones before turning and looking up the stairs. "Momentai – BG, stop that!" Henry's other eyebrow raised. BG? Henry sighed and pushed himself up, ignoring the creaking in his knees, and made his way upstairs. "Tasuke, what's -" he froze as he opened the door.

Tasuke was holding Momentai and a small, black creature apart from one another. The thing had small ears, almost wing shaped as they popped out of the back of its head. Its golden eyes were narrowed as it growled at Momentai, crinkling the crimson triangles beneath them. "BG!" Tasuke hissed, grabbing the creature by its face and shoving it back.

Tasuke really brought his Digimon home? He couldn't tell if he was as confident as his mother or as... more stupid than his father. That could be a fine line, he supposed. Tasuke's gaze shot up and froze, clearly worried that Henry recognized the creature. He did, of course. Guilmon had DeDigivolved into a Gigimon after the defeat of the D-Reaper, and a few times after Henry had moved to America for college and the others had come to visit him. Henry moved over to the Digimon and crouched down, scratching his head with both hands. "Who's a good doggie?"

Tasuke's relief was palpable. "Someone must be breeding ugly dogs," he began, drawing an annoyed growl from the Digimon. Or perhaps, Henry noted, that was because of his own aggressive petting of its face. "I found him near where May found hers."

"A hairless dog shouldn't be outside," Henry said, still using his 'dog voice' as he scrunched BG's face. And the Digimon really did feel like a hairless dog, the scales so fine and soft that they were imperceptibly different from skin. This was the same lie Takato had used to smuggle Gigimon, and for good reason.

Growing annoyed with being ignored, Momentai ran up and shoved his way into Henry's petting zone with a yip, squishing BG even more and eliciting an angrier growl. Henry laughed and decided to let them go to stand up. BG immediately broke from Momentai, catching his eye and getting him to chase the Digimon down, which it was clear BG was not interested in. "So, you obviously want to keep him," Henry said, smiling as he watched the dog nearly catch the round Digimon a few times.

"Just for now! He's kind of a lot of trouble." Tasuke leaned in close as he said that, hand between his mouth and the Digimon.

Henry resisted the urge to scoff at that: of course he was a lot of trouble. "Just for now," Henry said. "We'll look to see if anyone is missing a dog tomorrow and then set up some fliers." Henry watched Tasuke flicker to panic before nodding and letting loose a massive yawn.

Henry felt actually confused, now. "Tired?"

"Stayed up until three playing video games," Tasuke admitted sheepishly. Henry glared at him in disappointment. "I know, I know... Sorry. I'm just going to go nap before dinner, okay? It's the real reason I didn't want to go to the game. Not that it matters; May says they're rescheduling because of the weather."

Henry sighed. Always a teenager, spending all night awake like that. "Fine, nap. But you'll be cleaning up after dinner for doing something that stupid," he told the teenager. Tasuke just grinned sheepishly and headed upstairs. "I'll keep an eye on the new dog – BG, right?" Tasuke faltered a step on the stairs and hid it with a yawn before throwing a thumbs up behind him.

Henry watched him go, then waited for the door to click shut. Then he turned and looked down. BG was snarling and kicking Momentai away, trying to keep the dog from sniffing his backside. When Momentai got too close, BG finally turned and snapped his jaw, sending Momentai sprinting away in fear. Then, feeling Henry's eyes on him, he turned and growled like an annoyed dog. "Dogs like getting their butts sniffed," Henry finally said, his voice unimpressed with the creature's half-hearted and, honestly, half-witted attempt at acting the part of a dog. "Not that a Digimon would know that."

BG jumped backwards, then look side to side. "Bark."

Henry cringed. "And they don't say the word _'bark,_ '" he pointed out with a heavy sigh of disappointment. "How Tasuke ever thought this could work... I was wrong. He's dumber than his father."

"... So you know."

Henry chuckled. "That's obvious, BlackGigimon."

The Digimon sighed and waddled forwards, where he took an authoritative stance. "What are you going to do about it!?" he challenged with a growl. Tiny wisps of smoke spiraled out of his nostrils. "Nothing, that's what!"

"If this is the most threatening you can be like this, I think even Momentai could handle you." Henry reached down and picked up the Digimon, scratching his head until the Digimon sighed in contentment and let himself be held like a small dog. "But you're right. I won't do anything. At least, if you make a deal with me."

The Digimon stiffened in his arms, but Henry's grip tightened to keep him in place. "I could keep him from being a Tamer. If I wanted to, I would find a way. Lock you away, find a way to destroy his Digivice – it's been done before – or even ruin Gethen. It would be dangerous, but it might be less dangerous than letting him continue."

BlackGigimon stopped futilely struggling and glared up at Henry. "I'm sensing a _but_ , Human."

Henry glared at the creature but let his attitude slide. _"But,_ I don't want to lose him. Doing those things would mean that I lose my s... lose Tasuke," Henry admitted. He loosed his grip on the Digimon and placed him down on the couch. "So you're going to tell me everything, and you're not going to tell anyone about what I know, not because I am telling you but because I am asking you. Please, I need to know Tasuke is okay, so please..." Henry sighed and crouched down to meet the angry looking Digimon's eyes. "Please help me do that. Tell me everything so I can keep him safe and -" Henry bowed to the tiny Digimon. "Please, keep him safe because I can't. Not anymore. And neither can his parents. Like when I was a boy, he can only depend on you and whatever other Tamers are with you."

BlackGigimon scrunched up his face and the smoke began rising again. Finally, it stopped. "I don't have a choice," he admitted, voice much softer. Henry almost felt like he could hear Guilmon again. "He is my friend. I know that now. I won't let anything hurt him, and I won't let him down. Not about this, not when he... _needs_ this more than even I do..."

This was the monster? The Hazard Digimon responsible for... evil things? Well, he supposed that Tasuke took after his mother in more than a few ways as well, then. Calmer headed, and apparently a perfect fit to partner with a homicidal Digimon. Though like his father, it seemed he was befriending the Digimon rather than making bad decisions. "Thank you. Now why does he need this?"

"When we all reach Ultimate, we can punch a hole into the Digital World," BlackGigimon said nonchalantly.

Henry fell onto his back, stars swirling in his vision. It was that easy!?

 **X X X**

Suzie twirled laughed excitedly and sprinted ahead as she got to the Denver Airport's baggage claim. Her carry on rattled behind her as she rocketed ahead to where an older couple with graying hair was waiting for their bags. "Mama! Papa!" she shouted in Japanese. The pair turned towards her as she skidded to a stop in front of them, wrapping them into a tight hug, jostling the man's glasses nearly off of his face. "It's so good to see you both!"

Janyu Wong smiled softly and reached up to push the thick spectacles back onto his wrinkled face. "My princess!" he exclaimed as he and his wife hugged her back. They came to arm's length a moment later. Janyu brushed down his wrinkled sweater then returned his arm to his wife's shoulder.

Mayumi, his wife, fixed her own glasses and chuckled. "It's been too long, Suzie," she remarked, grabbing her daughter's hand. "Let me get a good look at you!" She fixed her glasses with her free hand and examined her daughter, dressed in brown jeans and boots with a pink blouse. Over one arm was her pink and brown winter coat; she'd become used to warmer climates, and the snow in Colorado was going to get to her. Truthfully, Janyu admitted, it got to him too, now. In his joints. That's one reason he and his wife lived further south now, with sun and heat and no mention of –

The tiny creature poked its head out of Suzie's purse and Janyu, despite his appreciation for Lopmon, felt his mood sour. This nation's government – as well as his own homeland and his wife's – hadn't stopped bothering him to work for them until he had retired from teaching and moved. He was tired of Digimon's influence in his life and their effect on the lives of those he loved. Even Tasuke had lost his parents because of a project Janyu had made a game of in college. Still, Janyu supposed he could accept a single, harmless Digimon in his family, especially one that kept Suzie safe. Janyu shoved the emotions down and nodded at Lopmon, who nodded back before vanishing into the bag once more.

"I'm so excited for the next few weeks! I'm basically done with recording my part, so I have the entire holiday off to spend with everyone!" Suzie exclaimed. She glanced up the line of baggage claim and sighed. "I suppose I should go grab my bag. But I'll be right back before Henry can even get here!"

"It's a little late for that," Henry explained as he walked up, hands in his pockets. He pulled his hands from his green jacket's pockets and hugged his family tight. "It's good to see all of you again."

His eyes caught Suzie's and she glanced away. Janyu frowned at that and turned to his wife. "Honey, why don't you go to catch up with Suzie? Henry can help me with our bags, after all."

Mayumi glanced between her husband and son and narrowed her eyes. That meant that Janyu wished to have a conversation without worrying her. It was almost more worrying in and of itself, but she supposed she could give him this much. Besides, she did want to catch up with her daughter some more. "That's a good idea, Dear," she said, patting his cheek softly. "We'll be back in a few minutes."

Henry and Janyu waved them off. "So, how goes the research?" Janyu finally asked first.

Henry sighed and turned back to the baggage claim to watch for his parents' bags. "Better. I'm making some progress," he admitted with a half smile. He looked over at Janyu when he released a surprised scoff. "Really. The Digivice has been acting different, Dad. I've spoken with them."

Janyu turned to Henry and grabbed his arm. "You what?" he gasped. He glanced down, eyes staring further than the ground. "Shibumi theorized that the Digivices could do more than what they displayed. Takato's second generation D-Power was more than enough to showcase his theory held weight. Did the physical components change?" He looked up at his son. Henry nodded and Janyu gasped. "Amazing. Even with the Firewall erected, the Digignomes have a level of influence on human world that I never expected!"

"I was hoping you might have Shibumi's old notes," Henry cut in before his father could spiral into the same kind of excitement Henry's entire family was prone to when learning about rare magic. "He helped me a lot before he passed." The years had finally caught up with the man. Between his coma dragging his mind into the Digital World and the stress that it placed upon him, he had never fully recovered.

"I believe so. I'll mail them to you when I get back home," Janyu said, still reeling from the implications. But to have them confirmed. "Why now?"

Henry stiffened slightly before reaching down and grabbing the first bag. "Who knows?"

Janyu glared at his son. "Why were you so angry with your sister?"

" _Much_ better conversation," Henry grumbled in English.

" _Henry..._ "

Henry sighed. "I think there are Tamers somewhere in the area. Whatever new Digivices they have, they're interacting," he explained calmly. "Suzie ran into one when she was here last, but wouldn't give them up." He looked over at his father. "Please don't press it with her, though. It's something I'd rather keep between us as siblings."

Janyu frowned. More Digimon swirling around his children and grand-children, endangering them. It was never over. "Fine," he growled. "Do Jaarin's children or Tasuke know?"

"No. You really think I'd let any of them be involved in Digimon after everything I went through as a kid?" Henry remarked dryly. He shook his head. "No, Takato and Rika sent him here to keep him safe, and they trusted me with doing that if they didn't make it out. I' not letting him get into any more danger than he can take."

Janyu sighed in relief. "Good. Good." He patted his son's shoulder. "Your mother's bag is coming in."

"Right!" Henry moved over and picked it up. "Now, how about we get the girls and head out of here? Jaarin set up reservations for dinner and Rinchei's going to meet us there."

 **X X X**

 _Well, looks like the Digi-Chumps finally got together, huh? Einstein's right, Chump Jr. is dumber than the Goggle-Chump and angrier than the Chumpette – eh, don't tell her I said that. Not that I'm scared or nothin', but... Eh, I don't hafta explain myself to youse. Just don't tell her, got it?!_

 _Now, this version of Ol' Pineapple Head is nothin' like the normal one. It's like fire and water, light and dark, up and down. A buncha more of those comparisons, ya hear? Kinda reminds me of eh, me. Hey, I ain't too proud to admit it. I was, uh, kinda a jerk. But he went back to his partner faster than I did, so I can't really fault him, ya know? But unlike him, I'd never willin'ly DeDigivolve, no way! Impmon is already way too adorable for all youse humans; anything else and youse'd all ignore every Digimon for me. I think I can let 'em have one or two humans, at least. 'Cause I'm so gracious._

 _But that Gethen guy... something about him... rubs me the wrong way, ya know? I know all about bein' greedy but he's somethin' else. I'm Beelzemon, and I'd never hang out with a Chump like Reapmon, you hear? Those guys are **jerks** , and honestly they ain't all that fun._

 _Eh, whatever. I'll talk to youse on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


	21. Advent 1 of 2:It's a Digi-Secret Dan!

**AN: Hey everyone. Happy to see you again. I hope you're all okay; being stuck in one place for a while can be pretty trying. I hope you all have found people to talk to and things to do during this whole thing quarantine thing. I know I'm getting exhausted from being alone in my apartment basically 24/7. But, hey, I have managed to find a new DnD group and video call with my family a bunch, so that's helping the cabin fever.**

 **So, responses.**

 **To reddevil47: Thanks! Yeah, Taj and BlackGuilmon's relationship is advancing at a good, steady pace. And Davis and Huckmon have some stuff coming up pretty soon! Not this chapter, but soon.**

 **To Guest: Yeah, Henry's new 'Pet' is annoying in his own way. I'm excited for Henry to have some interactions with the Digimon moving forward. As for Tasuke, well... When you have a friend, it's only natural your personalities affect each other, and Tasuke was the one to take the plunge into that realm first. Who knows how much that might continue?**

 **Well, I hope you all like this chapter. See you soon!**

 _ **Episode 21:Advent 1 of 2: It's a Digi-Secret Dan!**_

"Black Exhaust Flame!" BlackGrowlmon roared as he charged forward, an explosive blast of Viral flames exploding from his throat and flying towards his opponent. The purple, furry dragon snarled and flapped her wings, shooting into the air to avoid the massive explosion the flames had let loose.

"Wow, that might have hit the broad side of a barn!" Dorugamon mocked from the air, flapping her wings to take up the one dimension her opponent couldn't. She grinned wide and tossed her head from side to side. "Nah nah nah nah! You can't get me!"

I glanced over at her snickering Digidestined. "Is this necessary?" I asked May.

"How is it not?" she shouted back jokingly.

I groaned and picked up a card. "Digi-modify! Hyper Wing, activate!" I snapped while BlackGrowlmon began to dodge and weave between attacks sent from above. Six bolts of light exploded from his back and he leaped over the next attack, using the momentum to fly after Dorugamon.

"Aw, come on! That's no fun!" Dorugamon whined before spinning away to start their dog fight. She dodged a quick fire blast from BlackGrowlmon and aimed the claws on her hind legs at his back, using a body built for flying to outmaneuver him and rake the blades across his back.

BlackGrowlmon snarled in pain and shot past her, spinning midair and flaring his wings to float above her. He really 'popped' against the hazy white background of a Digital Field. Oh, and because he was a Godzilla flying above us. But he wasn't angry. It was easy to tell, given his grin and the lack of a violent cloud of smoke forming around his head. "I'd call running away 'No fun!'" he retorted before launching himself at her, the blades on his arms beginning to glow and extend. "Plasma Blade!"

"Digi-Modify! Puppetmon's Strings, Activate!" May snapped, double tapping the card on her screen. The Digivice beeped and violet lines shot out of Dorugamon's open mouth towards BlackGrowlmon.

"Digi-Modify!" I snapped, swiping my own card through my Digivice. "HyperSonic, activate!" BlackGrowlmon grinned and turned into a black blur, rocketing past the strings and passing close to Dorugamon. The glowing blade slammed into her side, leaving a jagged mark.

She screamed in pain and whirled, flaring her wings and aiming at the place the blur was heading. "Cannonball!" A metal sphere shot from her mouth and slammed into BlackGrowlmon. Given how fast he was going, Dorugamon's aim must have been insane. BlackGrowlmon hit the ground, wings vanishing, and rolled through the ground. A wave of dirt and dust exploded in his wake, coating me and May completely. I rubbed my goggles on my sleeve to see Dorugamon, slightly injured, land softly, the wound near her wing keeping her from flying much more.

BlackGrowlmon grumbled and pushed himself up to his feet. Dust cascaded from his body, but enough remained to give him a distinctly tiger-like pattern of stripes. "That... hurt."

"Yeah, because carving me up like this didn't," Dorugamon scoffed. She rolled her eyes. "I thought this was a training fight, BlackJerkmon!"

"Don't pretend you aren't enjoying this!" BlackGrowlmon retorted, then he took a heavy step forward and charged.

Her eyes widened and the grin grew across her face. "I'd never do that!" she snapped back, charging him as well.

"Black Exhaust Flame!"

"Power Metal!"

The flames and steel exploded against one another and the two burst through the cloud, claws slamming into one another. Each began to bite violently and try to get a grip. BlackGrowlmon pushed the smaller Digimon back and brought his head down in a violent bite, only for her to move quickly out of the way, sliding and delivering a bite to his side. He snarled in pain and threw himself forward, landing on top of her on his chest. Dorugamon yelped in pain until he rolled off of her to get the leverage needed to attack again. She flapped her wings the moment he was up, the blow sending dirt slamming into his face and eyes. BlackGrowlmon floundered back and spun wildly, slamming his tail into her when she tried to stand.

"Black Exhaust -"

"Power Met -"

"Enough!"

We all turned to Davis and Huckmon, who had calmly been watching the proceedings with interest. "You're both getting better at this," Davis noted. He uncrossed his arms and motioned at us. "Help them DeDigivolve."

May and I glanced at one another, then held our Digivices up at our partners. Dorugamon and BlackGrowlmon both groaned and complained about the decision, but eventually they both shrank down twice over, changing into their In-Training forms.

"I want it painfully obvious that I hate this," BlackGigimon snapped at us with bared teeth.

"And I want candy!" Dorimon shouted.

BlackGigimon looked over, then back at us. "... Me too!" He slammed one of his tiny feet on the ground angrily.

"I still can't believe you got him to agree to DeDigivolve like that," Huckmon muttered. He walked over and began to poke and prod my partner. "He's so tiny now!"

"Have you never DeDigivolved?" I asked The idea kind of surprised me.

"He's been able to do the whole disappearing act thing his entire life," Davis explained. He moved and pushed Huckmon away from BlackGigimon, who had been loudly complaining the entire time. "Come on, don't be mean."

"I just think it's cool. Come on, don't be so grouchy, Davis!" Huckmon protested. He looked back down at my snarling Digimon. "Oh, come on, if I could teach you how to hide, I'd do it. But you're a little too... blunt." He turned to Dorimon. "And you're too loud."

"I'm not loud!" she shouted. Incredibly loudly.

"Yeah, tell that to your snoring," May remarked under her breath.

Dorimon gasped in horror. "W-what? Me! Snore?!"

" _Loud_ ," May reiterated.

"I DON'T SNORE LOUD!"

 **X X X**

In a dark room, lit only by rows and rows of computer screens, information was taken in and analyzed by some of the best and most loyal intelligence analysts their nation had produced. The only noise, the clacking of the keyboards and the occasional muffled cough, failed to distract even one of them from their duties. They were dedicated, intelligent and single minded in their pursuit. In fact, after the powerful Tamers that their nation had produced as a result of being the first place Digimon had appeared, these people were the reason that HYPNOS was so powerful. They could find information that almost no one could, hidden gems of data hidden between single mentions in a dozen separate pieces. For instance, one of the men had created code to pull up various mission reports that mentioned the dangerous Davis Estevez, one of the only real threats to HYPNOS out there. The data regarding the young man – boy really – had changed in the past months, and the higher ups wanted to know why.

The analyst frowned as he examined the mission reports, grunting to himself. What was happening here? Could it be..? This mention, tracing it back to the name of a new Digidestined – no, _two_ new Digidestined. Hazard!And – A name. A name that sent bells ringing through the analyst's mind, for it had been on the watch list for years, a man hidden from their watch by the full power of the US government. Henry Wong.

The analyst quickly printed out the reports and picked the papers up, locking his station a moment later and hurrying from the room. His feet tapped quickly and quietly across the tile, taking him towards a room he had rarely been to before. He gave a few quiet nods to the higher ups he passed, then finally came to a stop at the door to the office of the Director of HYPNOS. The analyst knocked on the door, then waited for verbal assurance he could enter before opening the door.

The analyst bowed and placed the papers on the table, at which point the chair behind it swiveled around. The Japanese woman behind the desk glared at him severely, then looked down at the reports. "Well?"

"M-ma'am," the analyst said with another bow. "These reports contain references to two very important pieces of intelligence, combined to give a very high likelihood of a connection between the two pieces of intelligence in question. The first is that the Americans have managed to obtain three Digidestined, now at the Champion level or above."

The woman behind the desk clenched her fist, the papers in her hand crinkling the same as her rage furrowed brow. " _Three_?" she inquired, her voice not betraying the rage the rest of her was.

"Yes," the analyst said meekly.

She glared through him, her mind running through possibilities. Finally: "And the next piece of information? The connected piece?"

The man nodded. "There was mention of another name, in connection to the new Digidestined. I cross referenced it with a list of individuals we are looking for and found –" He could tell she was getting annoyed with his rambling. The analyst took a deep breath, and restarted. "Ma'am, Henry Wong is in America with the Digidestined."

The hand clutching the paper loosened and a soft smile came to her face. "You're certain?"

"Based on the projected name of one of the Digidestined's parents – Jaarin Anderson nee Wong – the likelihood is very good. The algorithm calculated this from how close these were in filing date, location, and reason. At the very least, Henry Wong is in America, and the Digidestined are close by if they are not related directly."

"... File this as top secret," the woman said. She stood up. "Dismissed." The man bowed and rushed from the room, excited by the dvelopment. The Director watched him go for a few moments , then ran a hand through her graying hair and placed the other on a button on her desk phone. There was a brief dial tone, then it went silent. "Inform the prisoner I'd like to speak with him."

"... Yes, Ma'am." Then the line shut.

The Director smoothed her pant suit for a moment, then marched out of her door and through the winding hallways of HYPNOS, her mind swirling from the information handed over to her a moment earlier. Henry Wong, renowned expert on Artificial Intelligence and former Tamer who had vanished from the public eye a decade and a half earlier, as if he had died. His family became difficult to track or were useless to HYPNOS. The actress did not know anything of Digimon, and less of computer systems. Furthermore, taking her would cause... problems they did not want to deal with compared to the limited benefits they could gain. But now with a Digidestined and Henry Wong himself revealed again? The opportunity was too important to ignore.

HYPNOS' Director stopped outside of the agency's personal holding cells and scanned in, opening up and moving to one of the wings. In it was an ordinary sized, Japanese apartment with the few amenities the man within had requested as the former head of HYPNOS, a concession they had agreed upon to obtain his aid and assistance in dealing with Digimon over the years. The old man within was sitting in one corner, flicking an empty lighter open and shut. He was very pale from the many years he had been within his cells without seeing the sun, and his hair was a dull gray, though none was seen on his sharp, clean shaven features. He was still thin and fit, and had a presence about him that made it obvious he was used to being in charge. "Director Saito, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he inquired. He kept his eyes on his lighter, flicking it open and shut still.

"Yamaki, look at me." He sighed and did as she told him. Saito glared at him and crossed her arms. "Tell me everything you know about Henry Wong."

Yamaki raised a tired eyebrow. "Wong? I thought he disappeared years ago."

"Tell me now, Yamaki. I could make your stay less comfortable."

Yamaki laughed. "I'm getting there," he told her simply. He shut the lighter and placed it on the small table beside his chair. "Your question is a bit... general."

"Who would be of the most use in capturing him?" she clarified immediately.

Yamaki surged from his seat. "Capturing – You found him!?" he snapped. Saito remained quiet, waiting for his answer. Yamaki shook his head. "You drove him away by trying to make use of the Digimon as weapons. Not as living beings with minds but as weapons to be used. Property. You drove his friends away to the Digital World. He won't help you if you drag him back here!"

"The Digimon _are_ our property, as defined by the law. Any -"

"Bio-Emerging Digimon is the property of the government whose land it invades, yes I remember," Yamaki growled. He turned from the glass separating them. "I disapproved twenty years ago, and I disapprove now."

"Your opinion was not asked. You were given a job and you refused to do it. You became a traitor."

"Don't do this. The Digimon, as I learned the hard way, are more than you think, and trying to control them will only cause problems," Yamaki explained in exasperation. He clenched his fists and turned to glare over his shoulder. "... Don't do it. The Tamers are all retired, all normal now. They don't have Digimon. They have children, and friends. Cook outs. Just people. Some of them have gone through too much already."

"Hmph... Thank you for your answer." She turned and began to walk away.

"What do you – What are you talking about!?" Yamaki snarled. He charged the door and slammed his fist into the reinforced glass. "Saito? Saito! What the hell are you thinking!?"

"Good bye, Yamaki. If you remember anything else that could help me, let the guards know." She reached the edge of his hearing and turned around for a moment. "Your country thanks you." Then she left him to shout after her, closing the door to the holding cells behind her and letting his noise vanish.

 **X X X**

"Get moving, the plane's waiting on you."

Ah, focusing the fault on her when, in reality, she shouldn't be there at all. Classic move to establish authority. Especially when the one saying it was shorter than the one they were intimidating. Still, the support of the government and a Digimon partner were more than enough to make her realize there was enough force to back it up, so she did as she was told and dragged her carry on towards her first class seat. She picked it up and shoved it into the overhead before sliding in. Her four guards slid into their spots all around her, two in front, one to her left, and one behind, and Jeri Katou was finally, completely stuck.

She stared down at her hands in her lap, wishing she had some way to get out of this. On the other hand, she didn't know of any way a Psychiatrist could fight a quartet of government killers with Digimon. Jeri sighed and leaned over to stare out the window, focusing on the towers of the city outside. "Be nicer to her, Kura. She doesn't want to be here," one of the two in front of her said, standing up behind them to glare at the one next to Jeri. He shook his head, loose hair shaking. "Jeez, I don't know if you or your Digimon are the worse one."

Kura glared back at him and rolled her eyes. "Stop pretending you're one of those silly anime characters just because you're a Digidestined, Hiku. Your Agumon doesn't make you the main character of the world."

"Should you be saying all this?" Jeri wondered, casting glances around.

Kura scoffed. "As if HYPNOS would put us and our Digimon on a plane that wasn't entirely populated by our own men," she remarked. She smirked at Jeri. "I thought you were supposed to be smart, _Doctor_."

"Kura." Everyone turned to the man behind them. He glared over the edge of the seats, his black-brown eyes commanding them to be quiet. His voice rumbled, "She is our guest. Treat her like one."

"... Sir," Kura growled, huffing back into her seat.

"But she is correct, Dr. Katou. On this plane, everyone you see is an employee of HYPNOS with various reasons for visiting America. We can speak our minds, here."

Well, there went her plan of asking for help from the crew after landing.

The man continued. "Now, I am sure you are wondering exactly what we will be doing. To answer... How long has it been since you were in contact with one Henry Wong?"

Jeri's head snapped around. "H-Henry?" she asked, heart sinking. She thought he'd gotten away with Takato and Rika's son. But if they found him, then this was all one plan to go and retrieve him. How could she fix this..? "I haven't, not since he built the Firewall. And that over ten years ago."

"You haven't even kept in touch?" Kura asked. She scoffed and mocked, "I thought you guys were all about friendship and fun?"

The woman beside Hiku sighed and played anxiously with her ponytail. "Can't we all just get along? We're going to be together on this flight for a while, and longer after."

"Namaiki, Hiku, Kura. Enough," the leader growled again, and they all grew quiet. He looked over at Jeri and crossed his arms. "What would you say is the measure of Dr. Wong?"

"He's a strong, good man. A friend" she said, earning a quiet scoff from the woman beside her. "I won't just betray him to -"

"Dr. Katou, need we remind you what is at stake here," he muttered as a threat.

Jeri turned away and grew silent. "No," she finally said.

"Good." He grabbed a book from his bag and pulled it out, intent on reading for at least the start of their very, very long journey across the Pacific. "Play nice, eat your food, and go to sleep at ten, Kids. I won't ask twice."

Jeri froze in her seat. Was... was that a joke?

 **X X X**

Hanging out in May's room was starting to get cramped. With BlackGigimon, Huckmon, and Davis joining our regular trio, it was getting impossible to sit everyone. And on top of that her floor was a mess of items sent falling by Digimon, Huckmon was nearly tearing the blankets just by sitting on them, Davis and May were trying to keep from getting stabbed by that body where they sat, and I was leaning away to avoid BG and Dorimon snapping at each other over the last cookie. In short, it was a madhouse. "So, you guys are all packed for your trip?" Davis wondered after he finished losing to May in the _Digimon: Digidestined_ game.

"What, you don't want to lose again?"

"We could take this outside with our real Digimon, if you want," he retorted. She laughed and shoved his shoulder.

"Come on, don't be a sore loser!" she mocked, making him roll his eyes and smirk back at her.

I chuckled and shook my head. "You're the world's strongest Digi-agent and you can't win in a card game," I poked, making May stifle another laugh.

"I'm not the strongest," he replied quietly, and we all went quiet.

May and I looked at one another, _really_ wanting to ask the question. Then we looked at Huckmon, who was glaring at the both of us. We decided not to continue down this road. "We're all ready to leave. Hopefully a Christmas Ski trip this week will get us all wound down from everything else that's happened," May said instead.

I nodded and leaned back to take a load off. "It has been an _insane_ three months."

"Oh, God, it has only been three months," May muttered under her breath. "How has this only been our life for three months?"

"It does feel longer," Dorimon remarked through the last cookie in her mouth. She turned to BlackGigimon, who was turtling at the moment. "You're three months old!"

His response, colored slightly by losing the cookie and being unable to stand up: "I'll kill you!"

"Try living it for four years," Davis grumbled. Light returned to his eyes and he leaned back to carefully hug his knife set of a partner. "I bet my hair will start turning gray any day now."

"Hey, now, Davis, that's not fair!" Huckmon protested. He looked away from Davis tried to pout. "I'm the only reason you have any kind of fun!"

He didn't reply, and we weren't going to call him out on it. It was too obviously true. "I'll kill you!" BlackGigimon shouted at Dorimon again, trying to get up still.

"May, can I see your Digimon cards?"

We all whirled on the open door, where Dan was walking in and closing the door. Huckmon went stock still, hoping he'd be thought of as a toy or a model on the bed. Dorimon began growling at BlackGigimon. The rest of us shut up and stared at him, waiting for this six year old to say something again.

And then BlackGigimon shouted again. "I will kill and load your data if you do not put me on my feet!"

Our tiny visitor's eyes lit up faster than any of us could respond. "WHOA!" Dan charged forward, and BG's eyes flickered to him before narrowing in annoyance. Dan basically ran into the prone Digimon and lifted him into the air with a wide grin. "A talking dog!"

"I'm not a dog, I'm a Digimon!" BlackGigimon snapped angrily and the rest of us felt our brains spasm. He's an idiot. A huge idiot.

Dan's eyes got even bigger and he held BlackGigimon up and right next to his face, ignoring the annoyed growls my partner was giving off. "Whoa, you're a talking dog Digimon!" he cried. He started to rush for the door. "I gotta show Mom and -"

"NO!" All of us lunged for the door. Huckmon made it first, crouching low. "Hey, kiddo, come on. You can't do that, he's not your Digimon!"

Dan promptly dropped BlackGigimon and ran up to Huckmon. "Another Digimon!" Dan said, voice quiet. He reached out and grabbed hold of Huckmon's face, yanking it closer. "Wow..."

"Hey, I'm not your Digimon either!"

BlackGigimon crawled up Huckmon's back. "And I"m much better!"

"You're really missing the point," I muttered. I walked over and picked up BlackGigimon. May grabbed her brother and pulled him back. "We don't want him to know about Digimon, BlackGigimon!"

"Well, then you should have picked me up when I was stuck on my back," He retorted through an angry pout. "And _I'm_ the best Digimon."

"Yeah, yeah, the best," I dismissed before pulling him in so I could pet him. He grumbled but leaned in and grew quiet.

"Dan... I..." She looked over at Davis, who was staring at the entire thing with wide, surprised eyes. "Do you have a mind wipe device or something?" 

"... That's science fiction!" Davis hissed in reply. "Usually they just disappear people that learn!"

"We are not disappearing my brother!" May snapped back.

Huckmon sighed. "We aren't suggesting that, May," he explained. He stared at the little kid. "Can he keep a secret?"

"I can keep a secret!" Dan shouted excitedly. He wildly waved the arm that May wasn't holding. "Me, I can! I can keep a Digimon's secret!"

"... Can he?" Huckmon asked _May_ again.

"He's five. You tell me," she remarked dryly.

"I _can_ keep a secret!" Dan snapped at May.

I shrugged in defeat. "Not like we have a choice."

May glanced between me and Davis, then sighed. "You ask him. He likes you more," she told me. She pushed Dan towards me and plopped down on the bed again.

"Does this mean I can talk around him now?" Dorimon asked, hopping up to stand beside May.

I crouched and held out BlackGigimon to Dan. "Want to hold my Digimon again?"

"Taj, this isn't -" I glared at BlackGigimon and he sighed. "Yes. Tiny human. Please hold me."

Dan's eyes lit up and he grabbed BlackGigimon before beginning to pet the Digimon behind the ears. He snarled for a moment before deciding it wasn't that bad. "Dan, you like Digimon, right? Meeting a real one is the coolest thing ever, huh?"

"Yeah, why?" Dan wondered excitedly.

I pointed at my partner. "Well, we have to keep the Digimon a secret," I explained. "If we don't, then they'll be taken away and we'll lose our Digimon. We'll be Digidestined without Digimon!"

"Whoa... Okay, I won't tell any of my friends!" Dan promised brightly. "And I bet Mommy and Daddy won't either -"

"No, Dan," I cut in. I sighed. "... In the shows, it's not safe to be Digidestined, right? You have to fight big monsters and villains!" Dan frowned but stayed quiet. I decided to put some... 'Tai' into my voice to convince the kid. "You don't think your parents or Uncle Henry would let us, right? Even though we're Digidestined! We have to keep people safe!"

He glanced down at BlackGigimon and hugged him tighter. "So if we tell them... they'll take the Digimon?"

"Forever," I responded honestly. "And... he may be a loudmouth, and a bit of a jerk, but he's my friend. Just like Dorimon is May's friend, or Huckmon is Davis'. And now... they can be your friends, too."

Dan frowned and snuggled BlackGigimon more. "... I don't want to lie..."

May piped up, "Then just don't bring it up. Do that, and you can play with me and Dorimon in my room whenever these two aren't over."

"Yes!" Dan shouted. He shoved BlackGigimon into my arms and rushed over to Dorimon. "You're not just a doggy!"

"I'm not _just_ anything, Danny. I'm awesome," Dorimon responded, grinning. "And way better than that pipsqueak over there!"

"You're as small as me!" BlackGigimon snapped. He began to fight to escape my grasp so he could attack Dorimon. "I won't let you get away with that!"

Dan laughed at BlackGigimon's behavior. "He's funny."

Davis walked over to me and sighed. "Dodged that bullet..."

"Eh..." I muttered before letting BlackGigimon loose to chase Dorimon and make Dan laugh. I twisted my open hand back and forth. "Postponed, maybe."

"He's five, remember?" May asked dryly.

Davis sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "... Ugh..."

 **X X X**

"There's the reason I come to these!" Suze exclaimed when May, all her siblings, and I made our way into the Corner Office, a nice restaurant downtown where we were meeting everyone before we head up to the mountains tonight. Our Digimon were currently in May's family's car, probably tearing their way through the food we'd left for them after we'd parked. Suze rushed up to May's mom, and hugged her tight. "And my big sister herself! It's only been a couple months and that's already too long!"

"I missed you, too, Suzie," Jaarin said, tightening her grip on her younger sister.

Suze grinned and let go, hugging her brother in law before making her way through every one of her nieces and nephews before coming up to me and May. "And last but not least!" she pulled us into a hug. "I'm so happy to be here!"

"It's good to see you, too, Suze," I replied. I couldn't help myself Whatever May's Christmas gifts were, they'd be insane!

"Yeah, Aunt Suzie. We barely got to have any fun last time you were here!" May added.

Suze pushed us away and frowned at May. "What about all our shopping?"

May grimaced. "Uh... _Yeah_! It was great! I forgot to include that..." Other than it taking forever, she meant.

Suze bought it, though. Or wanted to buy it, like everything she saw when they went shopping together. "Well, don't forget next time, May."

May grinned and scooted around her, making a break for her grandparents. "Jiji, Baba!" she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around them. "It's so nice to see you!"

"We missed you, too," Janyu replied, hugging her back.

Her grandma waited for her to let go and looked her up and down. "You're looking so beautiful, May." She stood up and smoothed May's jacket with a wide smile. "Oh, my beautiful granddaughter is growing up to be a beautiful young woman!"

"Baba!" May protested. I snickered while she struggled to escape.

"And Tasuke!" She walked up, giving me an awkward smile. She patted me on the shoulder before pulling me into a hug. I liked May's grandma and grandpa, but... it was so awkward. Now that I knew Henry knew my parents were alive, it made me wonder a few things. Like where were _my_ grandparents? I hugged May's grandma back and tried to imagine who they were or where they had gone. Did they know where I was?

"How are you? Keeping Henry on his toes, I hope," Janyu remarked from his seat.

Henry glared dryly. "Dad..."

Janyu grinned and patted Henry's shoulder. "I'm just kidding, Henry." He returned his gaze to me when Mayumi ended the hug and went back to sit down. "So, May, Tasuke, how is your year going?"

The two of us sat down across from them at the table and fought the urge to glance at each other. I mean, if Henry and Suzie both knew about Digimon... did their parents? Hell, did May's parents? Her uncle Rinchei? "Work and school," May answered. She jabbed her thumb at me. "A friend at school got us a job doing intern work for a lab."

As covers went, it was actually pretty true. Except for the intern work thing; I don't know if recording research numbers was quite in the same league as fighting to the death against government assassins. We were only surviving by luck and a training regime I was glad to leave behind for a while. "I get to so some engineering, May gets to do some coding. It's pretty much everything we could want," I added. Again, not technically a lie. I designed and built the automatic crossbow, and May was figuring out as much of the 3Ds' code as anyone else.

Henry nodded and ruffled my hair. "They've been working pretty hard," he said as I struggled to get his hand off my head. "But now they have some time off. It'll be nice to finally have a conversation with you again, Tasuke."

"Jeez, fine, Uncle Henry. Just don't do that again," I complained, then tried to smooth my hair back into shape.

"It's nice to see you've gone back to the natural color," Mayumi offered.

May snickered. "You should have seen it before he cut it last week – his hair looked like bad modern art."

"Yeah, well... you look like a... jerk," I tried to retort. I huffed and leaned into my seat. "Jerk."

"Impressive comeback, Taj," she joked. She shoved my shoulder, laughing when I just rolled my eyes. She turned to her grandma and grandpa. "So, how are things back in Florida? Missing the heat?"

Glad to not be the center of attention anymore, I lifted my menu and pretended to find some food while I managed to hide from anyone else.

 **X X X**

"I'm home, Mom!" Davis shut the door behind him and began to pull his shoes off. He placed them carefully on a towel near the front door so the snow on them wouldn't stain the wood. He stood up and moved through to the living room where she was resting on the couch. He moved over and sat beside her, resting his head on her shoulder.

She rested her head on top of his. "How was your day, Mijo?"

"Good. We just hung out before they left for the mountains," he explained simply. He sighed and shut his eyes, finally letting all of his own exhaustion hit him. How long had it been since he'd had a day off? Since he'd been free to just... be? "Thanks for everything you've done, Mom. I know it hasn't been easy, by yourself and immigrating but..."

She wrapped her arm around him. "Where's this coming from, Mijo?" she asked quietly. She pulled him tighter into a hug.

"I just love you, Mom," he said before letting himself drift to sleep on the couch.

Davis' mother smiled at her sleeping son and just rested her head on top of his again. "And I love you, Mi hijito." She sighed and hugged him tight.

Huckmon continued to hide in the corners, just beyond their line of sight, and stared sadly. This is what Davis could be doing if they'd never met? Well, maybe not exactly this. A lot of the lifestyle might not have come without Gethen's help. But was all that worth Davis' heavy conscience? His sadness?

Huckmon curled into himself. Was their friendship worth it?

 **X X X**

 _Well, what's all this self-pityin' crap goin' on here?Some Digimon when he'd rather be mopin' around about somethin'. Hey, what do you mean that's a little hypocritical, Renamon? Shut up, youse guys, don't laugh! Gah, can't I get a little respect around here!_

 _Now, wheres was I? Ah, right! Mopin'. Huckmon needs to just deal with the fact that stuff gets crazy around Digimon. And, like I had to learn, they'd never choose a life without us Digimon. Even when you – yeah, Renamon **you** – and your partner was actin' all angry, youse guys still never stopped likin' each other. And, even when I was all grumpy I still never wanted anythin' other than a life with my partners. And Jeri, who dealt with stuff way worse than the other Tamers never would've asked to never meet us. She ain't gonna hurt our friendship by even thinkin' that._

 _Speakin' of, what does this new HYPNOS think they're doin', kidnappin' Jeri like that? Why I oughta find 'em and give 'em the old Bada Boom, ya know! She's been through too much crap for a buncha people that even Yamaki ain't a fan of to drag her out like she's bait!_

 _Hopefully, the new Digi-Chumps can figure out how to save her on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


	22. Advent 2 of 2:The Days Before Christmas

**AN: Hey everyone! I know it's been a little while. Sorry. But, hey, still here. How are all of you guys doing? I know it's a tough time that seems to be dragging on and on, but it'll be over soon enough. I hope you're all doing okay.**

 **Anyways, here are some responses:**

 **To smartalec121: Yeah, I asked myself what would Jeri do given what horrors happened to her, and a Doctorate in Psychiatry/Psychology seemed like the best answer. She liked to help people with their problems already, and the key to defeating the D-Reaper was a bit psychological on her part. What better legacy than a child Psychiatrist? As for Jiji and Baba, I'm happy it was a callback to something, but I didn't mean for it to be. I just googled what Japanese kids call their grandparents.**

 **To Guest(1): I'm glad Jeri's job of choice made sense. It seemed to me like something she'd definitely go into. I'm excited for her to meet up with the new Digidestined, Henry, and more. And I am also excited Tasuke finally got his haircut; finally, I don't imagine that awful two tone hair. When Dan is around again, it could cause problems. As for BlackGuilmon, the more I write the more I love him. He's changing a lot over the course of the story, but his bluntness is just great. We will learn more about Tasuke's grandparents soon.**

 **To reddevil47: It was a fun line, yeah. He's a fun mon to write.**

 **To Guest(2): Yeah, Jennifer is interesting. I hope I can stick the landing with her and Commandramon.**

 **To Guest(3): I'm glad the secret agent angle is working out. It is a new experience for me, and I know I've stumbled a bit but I'm happy it's still pretty good. Originally I wasn't going to use the humans in fights all that often, but I quickly realized that made no sense. After all, the easiest way to disarm a Digimon is to get rid of their partner, and affords a lot of opportunities for the Digimon and human pair to demonstrate how much they care for each other. At the same time, Digimon fights are more fun and huge, so they'll definitely be the main draw, especially the further they Digivolve. You can focus more on humans in a fight between rookies, but when a Digimon like BlackWarGrowlmon shows up?**

 _ **Episode 22: Advent 2 of 2: The Days Before Christmas**_

"Wahoo!" May shouted as she blazed ahead of me, a tiny purple blob in her backpack screaming along with her. May crouched low and leaned forward a bit as she snowboarded towards the big jumping ramp nearby. I skidded to a stop and watched her hit the lip and soar upward, bending her legs and swinging the board back so she could grab the board as she flew. She turned midair and let go of the board, swerving a bit on the landing before stabilizing and speeding towards a rail, hopping on and sliding down.

"We going to do that?" BlackGigimon asked, popping his head out of my pack.

"If you want us to crash and die, sure?" I replied. I shook my head. "She was good at stuff like this _before_ we started getting basically ninja training from Davis. I was mediocre, _maybe_. If we were at one of the smaller ones, maybe."

"Sounds like prey talk." Read, _coward_ talk.

"If I crash on my back, it would definitely hurt you with how small you are," I reminded him just quiet enough no one around us would pay attention to me.

"So don't crash."

I shook my head and turned my board to continue down the run, passing the jumps that May had taken, weaving through people _way_ better at this than me, and eventually sliding to a stop in front of some trees with May. "Dummy, why didn't you take any fun jumps?" Dorimon asked from over May's shoulder.

"He was being prey," BlackGigimon told her from mine.

I shoved him back into my bag. "I know my limits," I told Dorimon. I turned to May. "But you're insane."

"Come on, I've been doing this since you still lived in Japan. You can do tons I can't though."

"Yeah, like she can't even draw stick figures!" Dorimon exclaimed. Then she was shoved into her bag by an annoyed May.

"She's right. You can't." May glared at me. "Hey, you can't shove me in a backpack," I told her, then I hopped and turned my board, sliding past her and flying down the mountain. I wheeled between some trees and turned sharply with the small trail, winding around tight corners.

"This is more like it!" BlackGigimon shouted. He rested his front legs on my shoulder and grinned wide. "Faster, faster!"

I grinned. "You got it!" I leaned forward and made my turns sharper and sharper. We whipped around another tree, leaving the exit to the path in front of us with a small jump at the end. I jumped off of it, not gaining all that much air – especially compared to May – but making BlackGigimon laugh excitedly nonetheless. We hit the ground and wobbled, which only made him happier. "Glad you had fun – now back in the bag. We're almost at the base for lunch, and we're not really supposed to bring dogs when we go up."

"As long as I get good food out of it," he growled back, vanishing into the pack once more.

I chuckled and made a few more turns in the snow, leaving a repeating 'S' trail behind me as I weaved between the other skiers and snowboarders around. I turned sharply on my heel at the bottom, sliding to a stop near the lift. I plopped down and pulled my bindings off, secretly letting my Digimon hop out beside me. May slid up behind us, showering me and BlackGigimon with a wave of powder. I was protected by a jacket and helmet. BlackGigimon was – naked really only applies to people, right? Well, he took the cold without any protection, letting out a loud yelp. He turned around and began to growl angrily.

May pulled up her goggles and grinned down at him. "Oh, whoops. Didn't see your ugly dog there!" she remarked before letting out a grin. She bent down and let Dorimon jump out.

At which point I grabbed hold of some snow and threw it at May's face while BlackGigimon slapped some snow into Dorimon's face. "Sorry, didn't see you there," I told May. Snow dripped off of her face and she growled. "Oh, come on. You deserved it." I pushed myself up and grabbed my board. "Come on, Boy." BlackGigimon and I rushed off. "We'll eat all the food before you even get there!"

"Wha!" Dorimon turned and began barking incessantly at May. The message was obvious: "GO FASTER!"

"Whoa, you're charging along," Henry noted when BlackGigimon and me sprinted up to the table. He reached down and grabbed the 'dog' and began scratching his ears. I was impressed, honestly; BlackGigimon wasn't just tolerating Henry for my sake, he almost seemed to like my uncle. It really helped sell the whole dog thing, which made everything a lot easier on me.

"Did you take your dog up the lift with you?" Janyu wondered. He frowned and examined BlackGigimon as he had for the past few days. "He's a weird looking dog..."

Before BlackGigimon could glare at me, I interjected, "Maybe, but I think he's great," I explained. I sat down beside Henry and rubbed my Digimon's head. "Actually, Gil's the _best_. Ever." BlackGigimon woofed approvingly.

May and Dorimon rushed up. May looked around, then groaned into her hand. "Wait, don't tell me Aunt Suzie got lost again!?"

"Your parents are out finding her, Dear," Mayumi explained with a shrug. "And the little ones are still in ski school, so it's just us for lunch."

"Speaking of, I'm starving," I remarked. I popped off of the bench. "Can you watch Gil and Dori for us, thanks bye!" I grabbed May's wrist and pulled her inside. We needed to hurry if we were going to get enough food for the digital trash compactors those two had for stomachs.

"They're more hyperactive then you and your friends at that age, Henry," Janyu said as we rushed away.

Henry sighed. "At least they have less to worry about."

I fought off a pit in my stomach. What did they go through back then? Maybe when all this was over, I could ask my parents and Henry.

 **X X X**

Huckmon was worried about his partner. Davis hadn't come out of his room in two days, only cleaning up and coming out to make sure his mother didn't worry every night at dinner. As a professional When she wasn't around, all Davis did was stay in his room with his comforter pulled over his head. When he got too hot, he'd just pull the comforter from his face and gaze at the wall with glazed over eyes.

Huckmon sat on top of Davis' desk, watching his partner's brown eyes fail to fix on anything. He knew what this meant; Davis had been focused a lot recently on what that ex-agent, Jennifer, had told them. That Director Gethen wasn't just the normal, politician type evil. He was the world-destroying kind. Davis had been working for a monster. Killing for a monster. When he'd been able to tell himself that it was all for the greater good, he'd been able to handle the guilt of the lives he'd taken in self defense or otherwise. But now he knew that everything he had done was just in service of a greater evil. Of a man who would partner with Digimon like Reapmon. Someone who would sacrifice the world to get what he wanted. So Davis shut off and the weight of all those lives slammed into him at once. And Huckmon didn't know what to do to fix it.

Huckmon jumped onto the ground and carefully moved towards the edge of the bed, moving as silently as possible. "... D-Davis?" he asked when he reached the edge. Huckmon hopped up on his hind legs and placed his front claws on the bed before resting his chin on the bed. "Davis, are you – Are you awake, Davis?"

There was no response from his partner, not even a shuffling beneath the comforter or a noise to show he was listening. Huckmon glanced down, chin trembling. He hopped on top of the bed, landing softly and nudging his partner softly. "Davis, come on... Please. For me?"

No response. Huckmon shut his eyes and curled up beside Davis, curling his tail up and being incredibly careful to avoid ripping any of the bedding. The silence echoed around them, turning into a quiet whine that moved up and down in intensity, almost vanishing at times or becoming all consuming at others. But either way, it just began to blend into the thoughts filling the Digimon's head. **_See. He even thinks it would be better if he'd never met me_** , the growing sadness in his mind suggested.

 _No! No, he doesn't_ , Huckmon protested half heartedly. _He... he's my best friend. We make each other better..._

I ** _made him a killer._**

 _… Th-that wasn't me... It was the G-Man!_

 ** _Because of me._**

Huckmon shut his eyes tighter and held in a shuddering breath. **_Maybe he'd be better off if I just left._**

 _But I... don't want to! I don't... I won't..._

 ** _I'm only hurting him. At best I'll only get him killed._**

 _No..._

 ** _At worst, I bet I'll make him a monster..._**

Huckmon huffed and pushed up, leaping across the room and rolling beneath the desk. He wouldn't believe it. It was stupid. Davis was his friend! Davis was his Partner! Davis was...

Davis was broken, all because of him. Huckmon sidled up closer to the wall and covered his eyes, hiding the tears welling up. "I... I'm sorry," he whispered to Davis. Whimpering, Huckmon finally cried as quietly as he could manage. "I'm a bad Digimon..."

 **X X X**

Next morning, I leaned back on my bed in the, honestly, huge place that Suze, Henry, and the rest of the family had worked together to rent. It was nice, with flannel sheets and the same kitschy vibe all these mountain houses had. Lots of leather seating, uneven carved wood for the furniture. They're trying so hard to look like an old mountain cabin they buy things that look unfinished on purpose. It's like buying jeans with holes in them: more expensive because it looks less expensive. Still, it's one of those things you can't help but liking when surrounded by it. And with everyone else around, it almost feels like a home on a sitcom. BlackGigimon was even snoring on the bed like an actual dog from a show like that.

I frowned and pulled out my 3D, staring at its dark screen. A family. Yeah, Henry's family was my family. But what if my other family could be here? I shut my eyes and let my hand fall to my side, then I let my imagination run wild. I could see it. Dad couldn't stand up on a snowboard, and tumbled head over heels down the entire way. A Guilmon chased him, shouting about something before tumbling himself. The two crashed into a rack of boards and skis with a loud clang. Mom, she made it down on her skis, making the movements effortless as she slid to a stop beside him. And then I saw Renamon skiing, too, and I knew my imagination had gone overboard.

Other than that, though... it almost sounded right. I wish I could have seen that. I opened my eyes and turned to the Digivice. "I wish you were here."

The screen stayed dark. Then suddenly, it glowed. Red Digicode scrolled across the screen, filling it up. "What the -" And then it ended. I sat up quickly and pressed a button, trying to recreate whatever had just happened. "Come on... come on!" I went through everything I could, but... there wasn't even evidence that it _had_ happened. My fist tightened around the Digivice. Had it? Or was I imagining things? The 3D had never done that before, but... I looked down at BlackGigimon, still snoring away. It was connected to him, so shouldn't it have woken him up? Done... _something_?

There was a knock at my door. "Hey, Taj, let's head out. I'm getting bored!"

May! If something was really up with my Digivice, maybe it had happened to hers, too! "I'm on my way!" I jumped off the bed, sending BlackGigimon tumbling to the ground with a yelp of surprise.

Later, we were walking down a path in the trees with our freshly Digivolved partners, knowing that even a bear or mountain lion wouldn't be able to mess with us when those two were involved. "Something weird with my Digivice? No, it's been acting normal all day," she told me as we walked along, hands stuffed in our pockets.

Dorumon jumped out of the treeline in front of us, her fur caked with powdery snow. "Yeah, it's just been a normal, boring phone all morning, Dummy," she explained. She shook her entire body, sending snow and purple fur flying everywhere. "Are you sure you really saw anything?"

I glared at the fuzzbrain. "I... Well, no. Not really," I admitted. I shook my head. "Even BlackGigimon was asleep. But I..." I pulled my Digivice out. "Maybe I was just wishing it happened."

 _Beep!_

May's Digivice was in her hand a moment later, and the compasses on both of ours were swirling. "Digmon? Really?" she asked when the information appeared.

"And Flamedramon," I noted. We looked at one another and groaned. This was happening? "Ready?"

"You got it," she agreed.

I pulled out a Digimon card and raised it and my Digivice above my head; May raised her own in front of her, screen facing out. "Digi-Modify! Digivolution, Activate!"

"Dorumon Digivolve to..."

"BlackGuilmon Digivolve to..."

Twin eggs erupted around them, stripping them down and changing their data and expanding. Trees shattered from the growth, and even more when the eggs exploded.

"Dorugamon!" she roared, tail shattering a tree as she stretched out.

"BlackGrowlmon!" he snarled, arm blades carving through a tree trunk.

The two Digimon glanced at each other, flashing huge, sharp toothed grins. Then they followed their noses, charging off in opposite directions. I chased after BlackGrowlmon and watched a Digital field appear around us. I brought my goggles down and glanced around. "Great, another test," I grumbled angrily at the air. A forced Bioemergence of a Flamedramon while we were on vacation. I was starting to get _real_ annoyed with Director Gethen. Who puts someone in a life and death situation _on vacation!?_

Dammit, no use complaining about that. Better to just take the enemy out and get back to vacation. And, let's be honest here: it'd be fun. Flamedramon shot out from the Digital Field, blue body and his oh-so-90s flame pattern armor standing out against the white powder on the ground. "Now, I'd try to be nice, but the last Veemon I was nice to tried to kill me, so let's just skip that," I growled. "BlackGrowlmon, get him!"

Flamedramon gasped and leaped back, avoiding the massive claw that had crashed into the ground. "Wait, I don't want to fight!" Flamedramon shouted as he landed softly in a tree branch. "You are not the one responsible for my capture. Let me seek out this... Gethen and deal with him."

I glanced up at BlackGrowlmon, and he down at me. BlackGrowlmon stayed silent, waiting on me to say or do something. I sighed and turned to Flamedramon. "I still need Gethen," I admitted. I watched Flamedramon narrow his eyes at me. "BlackGrowlmon... Load him."

Flamedramon snarled and leaped into action first, fire erupting from the long, sword like horn on his head before spreading all over him. "Fire Rocket!" And the best part? He was heading right for _me_. At least until a massive black wall got in the way. BlackGrowlmon roared in pain and stumbled towards me. I barely had enough time to dive tot he side, tumbling through the snow for a moment before collecting myself.

BlackGrowlmon was struggling a little. It was obvious that most of Flamedramon's attacks weren't doing much to BlackGrowlmon, but BlackGrowlmon wasn't able to connect at all. Speed versus power, I guess. I pushed myself up, fingers growing cold from the snow melting into my knit gloves, and grabbed another card. "Digi-Modify! Hyper-Sonic, activate!"

BlackGrowlmon blurred and shot past Flamedramon's next attack, arm blades slicing trees in his path before he turned and slid to a stop using the claws on his feet. He bolted back at the surprised Flamedramon, delivering a shoulder check that sent Flamedramon soaring into a tree trunk. "Digi-Modify! MetalGarurumon, Activate!" I snapped while dragging another card through my Digivice.

BlackGrowlmon's claws curled into the ground again and opened his jaws. Red lines began to form in front of him, curling into the shape of a missile that promptly flew towards the stunned Flamedramon. Flamedramon snarled and leaped over the attack, only for the attack's icy explosive radius to slam into his back. Flamedramon howled in pain and tumbled to the ground, the ice slowly growing across his back and into the snow to freeze him in place.

BlackGrowlmon stomped over towards our downed enemy. "For the record," he rumbled at Flamedramon, "I enjoy this more because you tried to attack Taj first." And then BlackGrowlmon took a step forward and an explosion of yellow data began to rise around us, turning red and black before flowing into BlackGrowlmon.

I smiled at that and walked over. "Let's go find May and Dorugamon, okay? See if we beat that Digimon up way faster than they could?" I supplied.

BlackGrowlmon flashed a grin with his massive incisors. "Of course we did!"

 **X X X**

"I really wish you would stop that," BlackGigimon growled at Suzie, who was busy pinching his cheeks and ears. "This does not make me like you, _Suze_."

"But you're so adorable!" she whispered back, continuing with what she was doing.

Henry and Lopmon sighed, exasperated, and glanced at one another. "Both of you, could we please focus?" Henry grumbled quietly. He walked over and pulled BlackGigimon from Suzie's hands, then placed him softly on the nearest bar stool. BlackGigimon seemed relieved and plopped down onto his haunches. "Now, first of all, I would like an apology, _Suzie_. You lied to me about Tasuke."

"What – no I didn't," she denied. "I very clearly did not lie. Bent the truth? Maybe. Misdirected? Definitely. But everything that I told you about Taj and May... was technically true. Very technically. I made sure."

Henry's eye twitched as he passed through all of their conversations. She was right. She hadn't lied at all. Which is why he had figured out she was lying when she left! Wait, no, not lied. Just misled to the point of lying. "Apologize..." Henry commanded quietly.

Suzie chuckled nervously. "I, uh... okay," she finally agreed. Head hanging, she muttered, "I'm sorry, Henry." Her gaze came up. "Even though you obviously haven't stopped them from working with their Digimon, which means you agree with what I was said, and that really I didn't do anything wrong since you ended up listening to my advice anyways."

Henry held her gaze for a few moments. Lopmon came over and tugged on his shirt. "I think that is the best you are going to get," she supplied.

Henry knew she was right. "Ugh... Moving on," he groaned. He moved over to BlackGigimon. "So, is there anything new that's happened that I should know?"

BlackGigimon shrugged. "We were attacked by a Flamedramon and a Digmon earlier. I defeated Flamedramon then head to help the fuzzball finish off Digmon," he told them. "I mean, could she have gone slower?"

Henry didn't know how true the extra details were, but that was fine. "So, I'm guessing this means Gethen is sending more Digimon out." He pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "It does seem that the quickest way to Digivolving is getting in fights, at least if our childhood is anything to go by."

"What, so he's just going to keep sending bigger and bigger threats after the kids until they can open a door to the Digital World?" Suzie wondered.

"You knew about _that_ too!?" Henry hissed, causing her to flinch. "You do know that I've been trying to work on that for years now and you knew weeks before I even had a clue?"

"Well you know now," she supplied sheepishly.

"I have been thinking on everything we learned from the children, and I would not be surprised," Lopmon cut in before Henry could say anything else, "if this Gethen man has been purposefully telling others about their existence. If he wishes for them to Digivolve, what faster method than placing them in direct conflict with Tamers and their Digimon?"

"You think he's been telling people about us?" BlackGigimon wondered. He shrugged. "Wouldn't put it past him. He's..." He trailed off, remembering the feeling of the man's boot on his snout. BlackGigimon shook his head and forced a scowl. "A hunter."

"And if he wants them to Digivolve to Ultimate or beyond..."

Henry shook his head at his sister's suggestion. "No. I've known Gethen for over a decade now. Unless there's something huge that we're missing, he wouldn't leak information to HYPNOS." Henry shut his eyes and his mind traveled back to his childhood. To Kazu and Kenta, to Guardromon and MarineAngemon. To Jeri. To Ai and Mako and Impmon. To Takato and Rika, to Guilmon and Renamon. Hell, even Yamaki.

"... I miss everyone," Henry finally admitted. "I wish it was still us doing this; I don't want them in danger."

"Yeah, nothing like fighting Devas and demons made out of Jeri's depression," Suzie remarked dryly.

"Seriously, what was this like for all of you?" BlackGigimon asked, awestruck by the barest mention of what they did.

"Honestly what you have been doing does seem safer," Lopmon admitted. She tapped the side of her head, thinking hard. "Thankfully you children have not had to deal with ancient threats older than Digimon themselves."

BlackGigimon scoffed. "We're not children!"

Henry raised his eyebrow. "You're only three months old."

"I – I'm not – So!?" he grumbled.

"I myself am four years older than Henry," Lopmon pointed out.

Suzie opened her mouth, then shut it. "You're that old?"

"I was a Deva. We were older than many Digimon by that point." Lopmon crossed her arms and nodded slowly. "Yes, to Digivolve to that level of power with little application of Loading data required a great amount of time."

"I feel like I've learned something I never wanted to know," Henry mumbled. He shook his head. "But I feel like we've been sidetracked. For now, the important question is are you all safe?"

"With me watching out for Taj, he's super safe!" BlackGigimon exclaimed with a grin. "And, the fuzzball might be annoying and rude, but she would never let anything happen to May. And Huckmon can already reach Ultimate. He's... a good Digimon."

 **X X X**

Rika was having the same dream she'd had on and off for over ten years. It began with her hugging her husband and son, the smell of bread, pencil lead, and the Tasuke's favorite no-tears shampoo filling her nose. Nearby Renamon was keeping Guilmon busy in the rock garden, but even they eventually charged in and sandwiched the family, Guilmon laughing like his Gogglehead partner and Renamon even letting out a few contented chuckles. And the little boy was laughing the loudest.

And then he was dragged away from them, a wall of electric fog rising between them. Her baby on the one side, they on the other. She used to scream in her sleep for him, thrashing about to get to him. But the Digital Firewall wouldn't let her get back.

And then came the loud alarm klaxons.

Wait, no, that wasn't part of the dream. Rika's eyes flew open and her head shot up off of Takato's, which was snoring loudly on her shoulder. "What the –" She looked around wildly, still exhausted, before realizing what was happening. She shoved Takato off her shoulder and grabbed their Digivices from between them. They were screaming at them, but somehow Takato was still asleep. "Gogglehead, get up!" She smacked the back of his head.

"Gah! I'm up! I'm up!" he shouted. " _What!?_ "

She shoved his D-Power into his hands and his droopy eyes shot completely open. "What –?"

Red Digicode was streaming down the holographic screens, giving the pair information neither could understand. "Renamon!"

"Yes?" Renamon asked, appearing in front of them. Rika turned her Digivice to Renamon and her vulpine eyes widened. "... Interesting."

"What's it say?" Takato asked while he and his wife crowded around his Digivice.

"It seems to be executing a program of some kind. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what it is for. Perhaps Henry has done something?" Renamon suggested. She leaned in closer and narrowed her eyes, focusing hard. "Hm, the terms '3D Alpha' and 'Partial Gate' keep showing up."

"3D Alpha?" Takato mumbled. "Welp, don't know what that means."

"You could think for longer than five seconds, Gogglehead," Rika growled, earning a sheepish laugh. She smiled and shoved him away by his head. "Gogglehead."

"That's me," he remarked back. The Digicode continued to stream uninterrupted. "But maybe Partial Gate means our Digivices will open a gate!" The group waited silently, but no. Nothing.

Rika sighed in defeat and turned to Renamon. "How are the Three Toddlers?"

"Still sleeping, though I doubt they will for long. Terriermon does not like to waste time he could be speaking," Renamon noted dryly. She reached out in request and Rika handed her the Digivice to study the Digicode closer. "Hm... What's going on?"

"And... how are..." Takato's eyes widened. "Rika..."

"Hm?" She wondered, turning and freezing.

There, replacing the Digicode, was a grainy video image. Static blurred across the image, but it was clear enough for the both of them to easily see what was there.

A boy – no, a young man. He was staring out at them, hunched over the video's source. His eyes moved around quickly and his mouth moved almost imperceptibly as he mumbled questions to himself. His crimson eyes were wide and confused, occasionally hidden by long strands of orange hair tucked beneath violet and black goggles.

"He's got my goggles!" Takato shouted indignantly.

"He's Tasuke!" Rika shouted at the same time.

Takato immediately shouted, "He's Tasuke! That's what I said, too!"

Renamon glared dryly at him. "Of course it is."

Rika's eyes teared up. "Takato, that's our son!"

His arm looped around her and pulled her closer. "But... how did he get my goggles?"

"Enough about the goggles," Renamon suggested dryly.

 **X X X**

"... and after the target was taken out, we were able to reach the extraction with little issue."

Director Gethen looked up at the screen, where one of the many Tamers under his employ was wrapping up a report Gethen was only half hearing. "Good. The removal of a second Digidestined in China will stabilize the region." _Especially since HYPNOS is too busy dealing with things here to be of any use policing their region. Deploying a Digimon against protesters? The move of a cut rate dictator._ "Then enjoy your flight back. Your next assignment will be ready in a few days. Enjoy any in flight food for your partner... oatmeal raisin cookies, yes?"

"Thank you, Sir," the agent nodded.

Gethen opened his mouth to respond, but shut it when a familiar beeping began in his desk. Reapmon? Now? Gethen gave the agent a nod of dismissal and the screen shut off. The next moment he had the communicator in his hand. "What?!" he snapped as the silhouette appeared. "Why would you contact me? I contact _you._ "

"Apologies," Reapmon rasped. "But there is a serious complication."

Gethen raised an eyebrow and sighed. "As usual, only I can get things done," he muttered to himself. "Fine, what?"

"There has been a Bio-Emergence. It escaped into the exit we were preparing, directly into the Human World. We attempted to stop it, but the Digimon was able to get past us."

Gethen froze. "All three of you?" He shut his eyes and tossed his mind through a list. "What Digimon was it?"

"..."

"Well?" he snapped, eyes flashing open. "What!?"

Reapmon crossed his arms. "Krampusmon."

Gethen's blood ran cold. "... Repeat that."

"Krampusmon. He attacked and broke through, rambling like a mad-mon. And during this time, there was a... flicker. The Firewall let a single Digimon through and he escaped somewhere into the human world."

Gethen swallowed a pit of worry in his throat. How would he deal with this? Krampusmon was a very dangerous Digimon, driven by a singular mad, psychotic urge. Gethen grimaced. And this close to Christmas, there had to be a reason for his Bio-Emerging. Had he been watching Reapmon to find a way to the human world?

And now what would Gethen himself do? He had been sending Digimon after the Digidestined for months now, increasingly more dangerous in order to accelerate their growth. The idea a Digimon could Bio-Emerge in his country without his consent had long term ramifications he was not happy with. It was a political mess waiting to happen. He could always pretend that it was on purpose, another test. That would avoid the political fallout. On the other hand, Krampusmon was a different breed from his tests. Cruel and psychotic, driven only by a desire to hurt Digimon it deemed unworthy. Specifically unworthy of one thing.

Partnering with a human child.

Gethen turned his gaze back to focus on Reapmon. "Continue preparations. I will warn the Digidestined about what is coming for them," he said quietly. Thankfully, Krampusmon was on a timetable. Tied to the legend that he had Digivolved to embody, Krampusmon would turn to Data and return to the Digital World once Christmas Eve was over. "And hopefully I will be able to muster enough forces to keep them safe until Christmas passes and Krampusmon vanishes."

 **X X X**

It was quiet in the mall when the full moon finally reached its apex. Everyone was home, the building shut down and silent for the few short hours until the day began again, children streaming to meet Santa Clause, families rushing to buy last minute gifts, and a food court packed full of people desperately searching for a break from the hectic activity. Perhaps it was for the best that no one was there to hear the massive, horrible screeching of a hole tearing open in reality. It was like a television had been turned on inside the mall's roof, the screen facing the sky and filled with a screaming static. Slowly a dark shape began to appear at the center, growing larger as the figure came closer and closer. A single, twisted claw reached out to the screen –

And tore through. A gnarled hand leading to a ragged, red jacket grew like a spire towards the sky before bending at an unnatural angle and placing its palm against the roof. Another claw and arm exploded out, this one with black fur trim at the wrist, and pushed against the roof as well. Soon, twin, massive horns began to tear from the screen. Long, curving, red horns tipped with spiny black spheres. A goat like face came next, and when its mouth cleared the screen the creature began to... laugh, needle teeth glinting in the moonlight. It began low, coming slowly. But as it grew louder so too did it grow faster and faster. Soon, the laughter became cackling like an evil goat's bleating at the sky. The red and black coat covering the wizened but surprisingly muscled and furred chest of the monster pushed out of the screen, dragging with it a huge bag harnessed to the monster's back. A pair of cloven hooved legs came out and _clopped_ against the roof.

"Hahaha! Yes, yes Hohoho!" the monster cackled, turning its red, goatlike eyes towards the sky. "Finally in the human world, Hohoho! Finally free to punish those naughty little Digimon and children. To show them what happens, yes, Hohoho!"

The goat monster' head jerked around. "Where are the naughty children and Digimon? Everywhere. So many naughty children. Badbadbad, Hohoho!" The monster let out another cackle and walked past the closing portal. "Naughty, evil, little ones... They need to be punished, yes, or no one will learn! No one will learn Nonono!"

Krampusmon raised a claw and pinched his whispy goat beard. "Never learn, the children _never –!_ Ahem... never learn. Nonono. So I'll kill their naughty Digimon first. Those naughty, bad Digimon, Hohoho." Krampusmon reached the door leading down from the roof and tore it from its hinges. "Yes, first I'll delete those bad, bad Digimon. BlackGuilmon and Huckmon, so bad, so evil. They need to be deleted, not even _Loaded_. Bad data, bad data, _bad_. Corrupt data, Hohoho."

The goat grin widened to let his tonsils touch the air. "And then the humans they corrupted, yes. I'll kill those bad humans so Reapmon's silly plan can't work. Kill both those naughty humans, Tasuke and Davis, kill kill kill..." The Digimon laughed and snapped his fingers, and the data began to fold around him. Soon, the wizened, horrifying goat man was replaced with the image of a fat human with a huge beard, dressed all in red with white fur trim. "Hohoho, all those evil Digimon and children will get what they deserve!"

 **X X X**

 _Aw, man, Chumley Jr. has worse luck than Chumley ever did! A creepy, evil Santa Clause Digimon? I mean what kind of horror is that? Of course, if he had his good ol' Uncle Kazu around, there'd be no problems. Me and Guardromon would give that creepy Krampusmon a serious butt kicking, and take him down easy. After all, the number one Tamer ever couldn't be beat by something dumb like that, huh? Okay, fine, maybe not number one. But definitely... three, after Chumley and Ryo. Uh, don't tell Rika I said that. She's... jealous? Yeah. Jealous of how awesome I am!_

 _Wait, what was I talking about? Eh, doesn't matter. I'll find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!_


End file.
